^ 


i&tx 


THE 

POLITICAL  PROGRESS 

O  F 

BRITAIN: 

O  R,     A  N 

IMPARTIAL    HISTORY 

0  r 

ABUSES   IN   THE    GOVERNMENT 

OF     THE 

BRITISH  EMPIRE, 

1  N 

Europe,  Alia,  and  America. 

FROM  THE  REVOLUTION,  IN  1 688,  TO  THE  PRESENT  ft  Mi 

THE  WHOLE  TENSING  TO    TROVE   THE   RUINOUS   COXSE.U'ENCtS  OF 
THE   POPULAR    SYSTEM   OF' 

TAXATION,  WAR,  AND  CONQUEST. 


"  THE  WORLD'S  MAD  BUSINESS." 


PART     FIRST. 

.  Z\)irt  Cfciticii. 


PHILADELPHIA: 
'rinted  by  ako  for  RICHARD  FOLiVZLL,  No,  33,  A 

*795« 

fpHlCE  HALF  A  DOLLAR.! 


iOLLEGE 


I 


_* .- 


Copy-Right:  fecured  according  to  Law, 


PERKINS  LIBRARY 

Duke   University 
Kare  Dooks 

A  D  V  E  K  T  I  S  E  M  E  N  T. 


THE  firft  edition  of  The  Political  Progrefs  of  Britain  was  \ 
lifhed  at  Edinburgh  and  London,  in  Autumn,  1 791. 
fale  was  lively,  and  the  profpect  of  future  fuccefs  flatten 
The  plan  was,  to  give  an  impartial  hiftory  of  the  abuies  in 
v^rnment,  in  a  feries  of  pamphlets.  But  while  the  author  - 
preparing  for  the  prefs,  a  fecond  number,  along  will  a  new 
tion  of  the  firft,  he  was,  on  the  2d  of  January,   1 793,  ■■ 
ded,  and  with  fome  difficulty  made  hisefcape.  Twebookfel 
who  acled  as  his  editors,  were  profecuted;  and  after  3  vet 
bitrary  trial,  they  were  condemned,  the  one  to  three  tfioi 
the  other  to  fix  months  of  imprifonment.  A  revolution  wall 
place  in  Scotland  before  the  lapfe  of  ten  years  at  farther!:, 
moil  likely  much  fooner.  The  Scots  nation  will  then  deri  \ 
think  itfeff  bound,  by  every  tie  of  wifdom,  of  gratitude,  and  of 
juftice,  to  make  reparation  tothefe  two  honeft  men,  for  the  ty- 
ranny which  they  have  encountered  in  the  caufe  of  truth.  In 
Britain,  authors  and  editors  of  pamphlets  have  long  condu 
the  van  of  every  revolution.  They  cempofe  a  kind  of  fojorn . 
on  the  (kirts  of  battle  j  and  though  they  may  often  Want  experi- 
ence, or  influence,  to  marfhal  the  main  body>  they  yet  enjoy  the 
honour  and  the  danger  of  the  firft  rank,  in  ftormiftg  the  ramparts 
of  oppreffion. 

The  verdict  of  a  packed  jurv,  did  Rot  alter  the  opinions  of 
thofe  who  had  approved  of  the  publication.   Five  times  its 
ginal  price  nath,  fmce  its  fuppreflion,  been  offered  in  Edinburgh, 
for  a  copy.   At  London,  a  new  edition  vr. 
and  Symonds,  two  bookiellers,  confined  in  Newgate,  for  p 
liming  political  writings.  They  fell  the  pamphlet,  and 
the  fame  tendency,  openly  in  prifon.  It  is  next  to  i  zy  for 

defpotifm  to  overwhelm  the  divine  art  of  prii 

A  copy  of  the  firi  n  was  handed  to  Z 

American  Secretary  of  State.   H  of  it,  on  ( 

fions,  in  refpectiul  terms.  He  faid,  tb  iti\ 
<£  aftonifhing  concentration  of  abttfes,  thai.*  he  had 
*«  in  any  government."  He  enquired,  why  it  was  not  ;      tted  in 

ica  ?  and  faid,  that  he,  for  one,  wou  dgl    ' 
chafer.    Other  gentlemen  have  deii ..-  m:  opinions   I 

fame  effect ;  and  their  encouragement  w 
pearance  of  this  American  edition.  In  jnreparing  it  for  • 
a  multiplicity  of  new  materials  prefented  thei 
collection  cf  the  writer.  Hence  the  Introd 
more  than  its  former  fize-  By  indulging 

6C 


(     4     ) 

as  he  went  on,  the  author  has  found  it  impoffible  to  re-print  the 
whole  of  the  original  pamphlet,  as  he  at  firft  defigned.  When 
he  came  to  examine  his  performance  at  the  diftance  of  two 
years,  he  faw  many  topics  of  importance  that  had  been  but 
flightly  touched  ;  and  whatever  related  to  his  native  country, 
he  was  anxious  to  make  as  perfect  as  pollibie.  Initead,  there- 
fore, of  correcting  an  old  work,  he  has,  in  a  great  meafure, 
formed  a  new  one  ;  but  he  has  avoided  any  mention  of  fact s,  or 
any  reference  to  publications,  pofterior  to  the  date  of  the  original 
Introduction.  A  mixture  of  this  kind  would  have  ctfnfufed  lu3 
narrative  ;  becaufc,  fince  it  was  firft  written,  the  internal  (late 
of  Britain  hath  undergone  a  very  great  alteration.  The  fcene  is 
jng  every  day  ;  and  en  a  fubjecl:  fo  complicated,  and,  at  ihe 
fame  time,  fo  fluctuating,  he  cannot,  at  the  diflance  of  a  thou- 
i'md  leagues,  write  and  delineate  with  the  confidence  of  an  eye- 
witneis.  He  might  alfo,  with  probability,  have  been  fufpecled 
of  partiality,  had  he  attempted  to  touch  on  a  fubjeCr,  wherein 
he  was  fo  perfonally  interefted  *,  and  where  he  might  have  forgot 
that  decorum  of  ftileand  fentiment,  which  the  public  a%e  entitled 
to  demand.  The  hiftory  of  the  two  lail  years,  is,  therefore,  en- 
tirely palfed  over  -,  and  the  reader  is  here  prefented  with  a  kind 
of  original  ground-plan,  of  thofe  follies  and  crimes  of  govern- 
jprent,  which  laid  the  foundation  of  a  Britifli,  and  in  particular, 
of  a  SeOts  infurreclicn.  This  little  volume,  forms  a  general  in- 
trodu&ion  to  the  perufal  of  thofe  trials  at  Edinburgh,  for  fedi- 
tion,  that  have  been  printed,  and  to  thofe  others,  for  high  trea- 
fon,  that  will  pofhbly  be  foon  printed  in  the  United  States. 

The  work  was  at  firft  intended  for  that  ciafs  of  people,  who 
had  not  much  time  to  fpend  in  reading,  and  who  wanted  a  plain*, 
but  fubftantial  meal  of  political  information.  The  facts  arer 
'efore,  crouded  together  as  clofely  as  poflible.  All  the  co- 
quetry of  authorihip  has  been  avoided.  The  ambition  of  the 
writer  was  to  be  candid,  unaffected,  and  intelligible  ;  becaufe, 
truth  is  the  bafis  of  found  argument,  fimplicity'the  foul  of  ele- 
gance, and  perfpicuity  the  fuprcme  touch-ftone  of  accurate 
ofcmpofitioh. 

A  report  was  circulated,  and  believed,  in  Scotland,  that  this 
production  came,  in  reality,  from  the  pen  of  one  of  the  judges 
of  the  court  of  feflien".  The  charge  was  unjuft.  His  lord 
did  not  write  a  {ingle  page  of  it  ;  but  he  laid  openly,  that  its 
contents  were  authentic,  and  unanfwcrable  j  and  that  the  public 
were  welcome  to  call  it  his. 

For  the  extreme  rafhnefs  of  his  original  plan,  the  writer  can- 
not offer  an  apology  that  prudence  will  accept.  A  ihort  ftory 
may,  perhaps,  convey  the  motives  of  his  conduct.  In  1758,  the 
duke  of  Marlborough,  with  eighteen  thoufand  men,  landed  on 
the  cortft  of  France*  The  troops,  when  difembarking,  were  cp.- 


(     5     ) 

pofcd  by  a  French  battery,  which  was  immediately  filenced  ;  for 
it  ccnilfted  only  of  an  old  man,  armed  with  two  muikets.  He 
was  flightly  wounded  in  the  leg,  and  made  prifoner.  The  Eng- 
lifh  afked  him,  whether  he  expected,  that  his  two  mufkets  were 
to  filerice  the  fire  of  their  fleet  ?  «  Gentlemen,"  he  replied,  "  I 
«*  have  only  done  my  duty  ;  and  if  all  my  countrymen  here,  had 
"  acted  likeme,you  would  not  this  day  have  landed  atCancalle." 
Philadelphia,  November  14,  1794. 


POSTSCRIPT. 


A  Third  Edition  of  The  Political  Progrefs  of  Britain  is  now 
fubmitted  to  the  public.  Since  the  appearance  of  the  fe- 
cond,  in  November  laft,  a  pamphlet  has  been  publifhed,  end* 
tied,  A  Bone  to  gnaiu  for  the  Democrats ,  or,  Obfervations  m  a 
pamphlet  entitled,  The  Political  Progrefs  of  Britain.  The  author 
is  offended  at  my  prefumption  in  having  predicted  a  Scots  re- 
volution. The  multiplied  diforders  in  the  government  itfelf, 
feem  alone  fufficient  for  putting  an  end  to  it.  Two  years  have 
now  elapfed,  fince  the  war  began  with  France.  The  experiment 
has  already  colt  Britain  at  leaft  fixty  thoufand  lives,  and  be- 
tween the  augmentation  of  her  public  debt,  the  capture  of  her 
merchant  (hips,  and  the  bankruptcies  produced  by  the  various 
calamities  of  war,  at  leaft  fixty  millions  fterling.  Fortheexpen- 
ces  of  a  third  campaign,  fhe  is  contracting  a  debt  of  twenty- 
four  millions  fterling ;  and  of  this  fum,  fax  millions  are  to  be 
beitowed  upon  Francis  the  fecond,  that  the  lighting  machines 
of  Germany,  may  be  led,  or  driven,  to  a  twentieth  defeat.  The 
following  paragraph  in  a  London  paper,  of  the  29th  of  April, 
1793,  dentonftrates  how  incapable  Britain  is  of  fuch  convuliive 
exertions. 

u  According  to  lord  Rawdon's  affecting  ftatement,in  his  new 
"  bill,  there  are  no  iefs  than  twenty  thoufand debtors,  one  thoufand 
"three  hundred  wives9  and  four  thoufand  children 9  now  in  con 
"  ment?  The  number  mult  at  prefent  be  fuppofed  far  greater. 

The  Public  Ledger,  of  the  21  It  of  June,  1793,  advances  one 
good  reafon  for  the  alacrity  of  George  the  third,  in  commencing 
this  war. 

"  The  hundred  thoufand  pounds,  for  which  a  treafury  war- 
"  rant  has  been  granted,  as  part  of  the  fubfidy  for  the  Hanoveri- 
<€  an  troops,  has  been  added  to  the  two  millions,  feven  hundred 
(i  thoufand  pounds,  already  placed  in  the  funds,  in  the  name  of 
"  the  lords  of  the  regencv  of  Hanover." 

This  is  a  minifterial  newfpaper.  Thus  we  learn,  that  this  ami- 
able monarch  felis  the  lives  of  one  part  of  his  fubjects,  for  the 


(     6     ) 

money  of  another.  In  the  prefent  tempeft  of  political  difquifi- 
tiofij  it  renot  poffibte  thatfuch  a  fyfeem  as  the  Britifh  conftitu- 
tion  can  long  hblditfelf  together. 

The  church  is,  if  poihble,  more  corrupted  than  the  Mate* 
"  An  old  woman,  lad  year,  was  confined  about  fix  months,  in 
<•'  the  king's  bench  prifon,  and  paid  above  one  hundred  pounds 
"  cafisj  for  refufmg  to  pay  church  fees  to  the  amount  of  two 
«  /hillings  and  eight-pence"* 

The  iirft  campaign  againft  France,  was  to  coft  about  twelve 
ions  fterling  to  Britain,  and  the  third  requires  twenty-four 
millions.  By  the  fame  rule,  the  fifth  campaign  mould  coflfforty- 
cight.  The  regal  and  eqclefiaftieal  plunder  of  the  late  French  go- 
vernment, and  the  eftates  of  feventy-thoufand  emigrants,  have 
been  computed  at  about  three  hundred  and  eighty-five  millions 
fterling  of  property  in  the  hsnds  of  the  republic.  If  to  thefe,  we 
add  the  revenues  ci  Austrian  Flanders,  and  other  conquered 
countries,  with  the  acquisition  of  perhaps  fix  millions  of  fub- 
je&s,  we  fhall  foon  be  convinced,  that  Britain,  fupported  only 
by  credit,  can  have  but  a  poor  chance  in  contending  with  the 
inexhauftible  refou-rces  of  her  antagonist.  The  contcft  may  be 
•protracted  for  three  or  four  campaigns,  but  it  can  hardly  fail 
to  end  in  the  deftruttion  of  the  Britifh  monarchy. 

JAMES  THOMSON  CALLENDER. 

Philadelphia,  3d  of  March,  1795. 

*  Morning  Chronicle,  6th  May,  1793. 


CONTENTS. 


INTRODUCTION. 

Of  Britijh  wars  fince  the  revolution — Immenfe  jlaughter — 
Expence  of  wars — Nootka  Sound — Oczakow — Tippoo  Saib 
— Amount  of  national  debt — Enormous  ey.ient  of  its  inte- 
reft  in  ihe  next  century — Scandalous  terms  on  which  it  was 
fir;}  contracted— Sketch  of  the  civil  If  of  William  III— 
Profligate  expenditure  of  the  court — Hints  for  roya;  c. . 
my — ®hieen  Anne — A  Jingle  default  of  thirty-Jive  mil- 
lions Jler  ling — Lotteries — Earl  of  Chatham — Specimen  of 
Britifi  taxes — Lord  North — His  extravagant  premiums  * 
for  money — Scheme  of  paying  off  public  debt — Its  futility — - 
Uniform  abfurdity  of  modern  Britijh  wars — Jmprefs  of  Sea- 
men— Character  and  defign  of  this  work.  PAGE  9 

CHAP.     L 

Purity  and  importance  of  Scots  representatives  in  parliament—* 
Parchment  barons — Anecdotes  of  the  Scots  excife — Win- 
dow tax — Extracts  Jrom  an  authentic  report  to  the  lords 
of  the  treajury — Herring  fj/hery — Salt  and  coal  duties — 
Dreadful opprejfion — Fate  of  Sir  John  Fen  wick — Hijhry  of 
the  creditors  of  Charles  the  fecond—- 'Summary jf  tloe  public 
fer  vices  of  the  prince  of  Wales.  2§ 

CHAP.     II. 

Fertility  of  the  Hebrides — If  ay — Its  prodigious  improvement — 
Immenfe  abundance  of  fi/h-^-Afiferable  effects  of  excife — 
Salt  and  coal  duties — Specimen  of  Scots  fnecures.  47 

CHAP.     III. 

Reports  of  the  commi/jloners  of  public  accounts — Crown  lands— 
Afonijhing  corn  law — Britijh  famine  in  the  reign  of  Wil- 
liam third — Striking  picture  of  Scotch  wrcichednefs  at  that 
period — What  Scotland  might  have  been— -IV ar  in  general— 
Culloden- — The  bloody  Duke.  63 


{     8     ) 

CHAP     IV. 

Blachficne — His  idea  of  the  Engli/h  confiitution — Default  of  U 

an  hundred  and fevcnty-one  millions  fie  r  ling — Powell — Bern- 
bridge — Mary  Talbot — IVefiminfier  election — Anecdotes  of 
the  war  with  America — Engli/h  Diffenters — Their  law- 
fnit  with  the  corporation  of  Londm — So-ciety  of  friends — 
Unparalleled  epprejfton  of  that  Jed  in  England — Boxing.        82 

CHAP.     V. 

Civil  lifi — Accumulation  of  fifteen  millions — Dog  kennels — 
George  the  firfi — His  liberal  ideas  of  government — George 
the  fecond — His  ho/pit ality  at  the  burial  of  his  eldefi  fori — 
Excife.  p7 

CHAP.     VI. 

Edward  I. — Edward  III. — Henry  V. — Ireland — Conduct 
of  Britain  in  various  quarters  of  the  world — Otaheite — Gui- 
nea— North- America — The  Jerfey  prifon-Jhip — Bengal — 
General  efiimate  of  defiruclion  in  the  Eafi- Indies.  109 


.INTRODUCTION, 


OfBritiJh  ivars  fince  the  Revolution — Immenfe  Jlaughter — Expence 
of  wars — Nootka  Sound — Oczakotv—-Tippoo  Saib — Amount  of 
National  debt — Enormous  extent  of  its  intereji  in  the  next  cen- 
tury — Scandalous  terms  on  which  it  was  firfl  contracted — Sketch 
of  the  civil  Hfl  of  William  III. — Profligate  expenditure  of  the 
court — Hints  for  royal  economy — Sjhieen  Anne — Aftngle  default 
of  thirty-five  millions  flerling — Lotteries — Earl  of  Chatham — 
Specimen  §f  Britijh  taxes — I  ord  North — His  extravagant  pre*- 
miums  for  money — Scheme  of  paying  off  public  debt — Its  futi- 
lity— Uniform  abfurdity  of  modern  Britijh  wars — lmprefs  of  Sea- 
men— Character  and  defign  of  this  work. 

SIXCE  the  year  one  thoufand  fix  hundred  and  eighty-eight, 
Britain  has  been  once  at  war  with  Holland,  five  times 
ac  war  with  France,  and  fix  times  at  war  with  Spain.  The 
expulfion,  or  flight  of  James  the  Second,  produced  a  bloody 
civil  conteft  both  in  Scotland  and  Ireland.  Since  that  time,  we 
have  alio  been  diflurbed  with  two  rebellions  in  Britain,  befides 
an  endlefs  catalogue  of  mafiacres  in  Afia  and  America.  In  Eu- 
rope, the  price  which  we  advance  for  a  war,  hath  fucceffively 
extended  from  one  hundred  thoufand  lives,  to  thrice  that  num- 
ber ;  and  from  thirty  to  an  hundred  and  thirty-nine  millions 
flerling.  From  Africa  we  import  annually  between  thirty  and 
forty  thoufand  Haves,  an  eftimate  which  rifes,  in  the  courfe  of 
a  century,  to  at  leaft  three  millions  of  murders.  In  Bengal  only, 
we  deilroyed  or  expelled,  within,  the  ihort  period  of  fix  years, 
five  millions  of  induftrious  and  innocent  people*  ;  we  have 
been  fovereigns  of  high  rank,  in  that  country,  for  about  thirty- 
five  yearsf  ;  and  there  is  reafon  to  compute,  that,  fince  our  ele- 
vation, we  have  itrewed  the  plains  of  Hindoftan  with  thirty-fix 
millions  of  carcafesj.  Combining  the  diverfified  ravages  of  fa- 
mine, peftilence,  and  the  fword,  it  may  juftly  be  fuppofed,  that 
in  thefe  tranfa&ions,  fifteen  hundred  thoufand  of  our  country- 
men have  perifhed  -,  a  number  equal  to  that  part  of  the  whole 
inhabitants  of  Britain  who  are  at  prefent  able  to  bear  arms.  The 
deftruftion  of  our  French  and  Spanifh  antagonifts,  and  of  Ger- 
man, Sardinian,  and  Portuguefe  mercenaries,  purchafed  by  Bri- 
tain to  fight  againft  them,  has  amounted  to  at  leaft  a  fecond  fif- 
teen hundred  thoufand  lives.    Hence  it  follows,  that  Britifh 

*  Dow's  Hiftory  of  Hindoftan,  quarto  edition,  vol.  iii.  page  70. 

f  On  the  23d  of  June,  1757,  Colonel  Clive  defeated  Suraja  Dowla,  Nabob  of 
Bengal.  This  victory  laid  the  foundation  of  the  territorial  grandeur  of  tke  Eaft- 
India  Company. 

i  Infra.  Chap.  vi. 

B 


(  ro  ) 

quarrels,  in  only  an  hundred  years,  have  deprived  Europe  of  three 
millions  of  men,  in  the  flower  of  life,  whofe  defcendants,  in 
the  progrefs  of  domeftk  fociety,  mud  have  expanded  into  mul- 
titudes beyond  calculation.  The  perfons  deftrOyed,  have  in 
whole,  certainly  exceeded  thirty  millions,  that  is  to  fay,  three 
hundred  thoufand  acts  of  homicide  per  annum.  Thefe  victims 
have  been  facrificed  to  the  balance  of  power,  and  the  balance 
of  trade,  the  honour  of  the  Britifh  flag,  the  rights  of  the  Bri- 
tifh crown,  the  "  omnipotence  of  Parliament*,"  and  the  fecurity 
of  the  Proteftant  fucceilion.  Proceeding  at  this  rate  for  another 
century,  we  may,  with  that  felf-complacency,  which  is  natural 
to  mankind,  admire  ourfelves  and  our  atchievements  ;  but  every 
other  nation  in  the  world  mud  be  entitled  to  wifh,  that  an  earth- 
quake or  a  volcano,  mould  firft  bury  the  whole  Britifh  iflahds 
together  in  the  centre  of  the  globe  ;  that  a  firigle,  but  decisive 
exertiori  of  Almighty  vengeance,  fhould  terminate  the  progrefs 
and  the  remembrance  of  our  crimes. 

In  the  fcale  of  juft  calculation,  the  moft  valuable  commoditv, 
next  to  human  blood,  is  money.  Having  made  a  grofs  eftimate  of 
the  wafte  of  the  former,  let  us  endeavour  to  compute  the  con- 
fumption  of  the  latter.  The  expences  of  Britifh  wars,  from  the 
revolution  to  the  end  of  the  year  1789,  has  been  ftated,  by  Sir 
John  Sinclair,  at  three  hundred  and  feventy-feven  millions, 
twenty-nine  thoufand  five  hundred  and  ninety-eight  pounds 
fterling.  The  particulars  are  as  fellows,. viz. 

Expences  of  war,  during  the  reign  of  Wil- 7      r 

Ham  III.  5    *  -30,4473382 

Queen  Anne,         -----  43,360,003 

George  I.         -         -                   -         -  6,048,267 

Expence  of  the  war  begun  anno  1 739,         -  46,418,689 

Ditto,  of  the  war  begun  anno  1756,     -         -  111,271,996 

Ditto  of  the  American  war,          -              -  139,171,876 

Ditto  of  the  armament  refpe&ing  Holland,  7  e 

in  1787,         -         -         -         -          5  3«>3«5 

Total,         tj£-377>°2Sk598 

Since' this  publication,  a  fleet  has  been  armed  again  ft  Spain,  to 
enforce  the  privilege  of  killing  whales  at  the  fouth  pole,  and  wild 
cats  at  twice  that  diltance.  By  the  account  of  the  minifter  hirri- 
felf,  as  laid  before  parliament,  the  affair  coft  us  three  millions 
one  hundred- and  thirty-three  thoufand  poundsj.  In  point  of 
economy,  this  project  refembled  the  commencement  of  a  law- 
fuit  in  chancery  to  recover  half  a  crown.  We  have  fince  quarrel- 

*  This  vnodeft  pliraff*  was  current  before  the  Americas  revolution.  It  hath, 
fince  that  time,  been  kid  alide. 

f  Hiftory  of  the  public  revenue  of  the  Britifli  empire,  part  iii.  chap.  2d. 
j  New  Annual  Kegifler,  for  1 7 <y  1 .  page  i*,J> 


(    ti    ) 

led  with  Catharine  of  Ruffia,  for  a  few  acres  in  the  defarts  of 
Tartary ;  and  the  charges  of  this  fecond  armament  mult  alfo 
have  been  very  cotifiderable.  Thirty-three  (hips  of  the  line,  and 
about  thirty  thoufand  men,  were  kept  up  for  four  months,  that 
the  grand  Turk  might  recover  porTeihon  of  Oczakow,  and  after 
all,  this  notable  fcheme  was  disappointed.  At  prefent.  we  are 
tearing  afunder  the  dominions  of  Tippoo  Saib  ;  and  Mr.  Fox 
lately  laid,  in  the  houfe  of  commons,  that  this  war,  which  has 
juft  how  been  ended,  went  on  at  an  expehce  to  ourfelves  of  two 
hup  Ired  and  fifty  thoufand  pounds  fterling  per  month,  or  about 
eight  thoufand  guineas  per  day.  Comprehending  thefe  frefh  ex- 
ploits, the  amount  of  money  deburfed  from  the  exchequer,  on 
account  of  war,  fince  the  revolution,  mull  exceed  three 
hundred  and  eighty  millions  fterling.  We  are  alfo  to  fubjoin  the 
value  of  fixteen  or  twenty  thoufand  merchant-fhips,  taken  by 
the  enemy.  This  diminutive  article  of  iixty  or  an  hundred  mil- 
lions fterling,  would  have  been  fufficient  for  fcranfporting  and 
fettling  eight  or  twelve  hundred  thoufand  farmers,  with  their 
wives  and  children,  on  the  banks  of  the  Sufqiiehannah  or  the 
Miffiflrppi.  So  numerous  a  colony  of  cuftomers  could  well  have 
been  fpared  from  the  nations  of  Europe.  They  would  foqri  have 
rivalled  the  population  of  France,  and  have  required  a  greater 
quantity  of  manufactures  than  tin's  ifland  has  ever  prepared  for 
exportation.  Infttad  of  fo  comfortable  a  profpett,  we  are,  as  a 
>n,  indebted  to  the  extent  of  at  leail  two  hundred  and  fifty 
millions.  The  annual  intereft:  of  this  fum,  the  necerTary  expences 
cf  management,  and  of  collecting  the  revenue  that  defrays  it, 
are,  all  together,  above  eleven  millions  and  an  half  fterling.  This 
burden  is  equivalent  to  a  yearly  poll-tax  of  one  pound  three 
(hillings  fterling,  per  head,  upon  every  individual  inhabitant  of 
Britain*.  Befides  what  we  pay  at  prefent  upon  this  account,  it 
is  worth  while  to  notice  what  we  have  paid  already.  From  the 
revolution  to  the  year  1789,  incluiive,  the  intereft  of  tire  public 

*  In  an  affair  of  fo  much  importance,  the  utmo't  accuracy  may  be  expected. 

The  exact  amount  of  the  debt,  as  flated  by  .Sir  John  Sinclair,  is  tzio  hundred  and. 

•wired  and  eighty-oee  tboufat,^ynme  hundred  and  t^venty^fevev  pounds, 

-  -       e.  Hiftor)  of  the  public  revenue,  Part  in.  chap.  v.  In 

another  place,  near  the  end  of  the  lame  chapter,  he  has  thefe  words.  C1  1  hus,in- 

"   eluding  the  linking  fund,  and  the  intereft  of  our  unliquidated   claims,  our 

"   public  deots.  at  prefent, require  the  fum  of  ten  Millions, fix  hundred  arid  tbirty^tive 

m  buHdred  a  ty-o,%  >.ds  fourteen   /hillings,   ana  three  half-pence  per 

.'."'  The  expence  of  collecting  this  fum,  in  proportion  to  that  61  the  whole 

British  revenue,  may  begueffed  at  about  nine  hundred  thoufand  pounds  a  year, 

which,  added  to  theiateceft  itfelf,  gives  the  eleven  millions  and  an  half,  ftated 

La  the  text,   'ihe  preface  to  the  volume  here  emoted,  bears  date  the  30th  of 

January  1790.  The  Spanilh  and  Ruffian  fquabbleS  inuft,  between  them,   have 

coft  at  leaft  fix  millions  fterling.  They  took  place  after  the  preceding  eftimate  had 

been  made  of  the  extent  of  the  national  debt ;  fo  that  the  fums  mentioned  in  the 

text  are,  both  a?  to  the  pnhcipal  and  the  annual  charges,  much  about  the  fact, 

even  alter  deducting  v. hat  Mr.  Pitt  may  have  paid  off. 


(       12       ) 

debts,  and  of  the  public  loans  repaid,  including  other  inciden- 
tal articles  connected  with  thefe  matters,  has  been  three  hun- 
dred and  ninety  millions,  two  hundred  and  feventy-fix  thoufand, 
five  hundred  and  feventy-nine  pounds*. 

But  this  is  a  trifle  compared  with  the  fums  of  intereft  that  we 
mull  difcharge  in  the  next  hundred  years.  The  burden  hath  now 
rifen  to  eleven  millions,  and  five  hundred  thoufand  pounds  ftcr- 
ling  per  annum.  Six  yearly  payments  only,  from  the  lit  of  January, 
1792,  to  the  id  of  January  1798,  inclufive,  with  compound  in- 
tereft at  five  per  cent,  from  the  firft  of  thefe  two  dates  to  the 
fecond,  amount  to  eighty  millions,  nine  hundred  and  fifty-four 
thoufand,  three  hundred  and  forty  feven  pounds,  four  millings 
and  three-pence.  The  reader  may  profecute  the  feries  of  figures 
to  the  end  of  the  next  century.  He  will  then  difcover  that  feve- 
ral  myriads  of  millions  fterling  are  not  for  that  time  alone,  equal 
to  the  preflure  of  this  enormous  load.  We  far  excel  the  Greeks 
and  Romans  in  the  arts  of  induflry,  and  the  refources  of  wealth; 
but  it  would  be  vain  to  fearch  among  ancient  nations,  for  any  in- 
ftance  that  rivals  British  debts,  and  Britifh  folly. 

It  is  an  object  of  the  higheft  curiofity  and  importance  for  every 
one  of  us,  to  enquire,  in  what  manner  fuch  aitonifhing  fums  have 
been  borrowed,  and  by  what  methods  they  have  been  expended  ? 
In  the  courfe  of  this  work,  each  of  thefe  queries  will  be  explain- 
ed *,  but  in  the  mean  time,  a  few  detached  particulars  fhall  be 
here  inferted,  to  afTift  the  reader  in  forming  a  conception  of  the 
reft  of  the  bufmefs. 

In  the  war  of  1689,  that  feed-bed  of  the  future  calamities  of 
Britain,  money  was  borrowed  upon  annuities  for  lives.  "  Four* 
"  teen  per  cent,  was  granted  for  one  life,  twelve  per  cent,  for  two 
«  lives,  and  ten  per  cent,  for  three.  Such  terms  were,  in  the  high- 
"  ejl  degree  extravagant  j  particularly  as  no  attention  was  paid 
"  to  difference  of  ages\" 

The  fame  author  adds,  on  the  authority  of  Dr.  Price,  that 
"  borrowing,  at  the  rate  of  twelve  per  cent,  for  two  lives,  and 
«  ten  per  cent,  for  three,  is  giving  ten  per  cent,  for  money 
"  in  the  one  cafe,  and  nine  percent,  in  the  othert."  From  1690, 
to  the  end  of  the  war,  the  hiftorian  fays,  that,  on  the  money 
borrowed,  «  eight  per  cent,  was  uniformly  paid."  To  raife  a  far- 
ther fum  upon  thefe  annuities,  another  expedient  was,  in  the  fe- 
quel,  embraced.  The  annuitantswere  oiTered  a  reverfionarv  inter- 
eft, after  the  failure  of  their  lives,  for  ninety-fix  years ttobe  reckoned 
from  January  1695,  on  their  paying  only  four  and  a  half  year's 
purchafe,  or  fixty-three  pounds  for  every  annuity  of  fourteen 
pounds.  In  1698,  the  demand  was  reduced  to  four  years  pur- 

*  Hiftory  of  the  pnb'ic  revenue,  &c.  Part  111,  chap.  zd. 
f  Ibid.  Part  n.  chap.  4.         J  Ibid. 


f 


(  13  ) 

chafe  \  or  fifty-fix  pounds  for  the  annuity  of  fourteen.  For  our 
farther  fatisfac~tion,  «  the  fame  fyftem  was  afterwards  adopted 
"  in  the  reign  of  Qiieen  Anne*."  Some  of  thefe  annuities  re- 
main, at  this  day,  "  to  the  amount  of  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
"  one  thoufand  two  hundred  and  three  pounds,  feven  {hillings, 
iC  and  eight-pence  per  annum,  for  which  the  fum  of  one  mil- 
«  lion  eight  hundred  and  thirty-fix  thoufand,  two  hundred  and 
i(  feventy-five  pounds,  feventeen  millings  and  ten  pence  three 
«<  farthings,  had  been  originally  contributed  -,  and  for  the  ufe 
tc  of  which,  the  public  muft  pay  above  thirteen  millions  before 
"  they  are  all'extin&f." 

But  even  all  this  was  only  a  part  of  the  evil.  i(  Davenant 
"  affirms,  that  the  debt  of  the  nation  was  fwclled  more  by  high 
"  premiums  than  even  by  the  exorbitant  intereft  that  was  paid  ; 
"  and  that  its  credit  was  at  fo  low  an  ebb,  that  Jive  millions,  giv- 
"  en  by  parliament,  produced  for  the  fervice  of  the  war,  and 
"  to  the  ufes  of  the  public,  but  little  more  than  two  millions  and 
"  an  halfX*  In  another  paifage,  he  feems  to  contradict  himfelf, 
and  to  reduce  the  loffes  in  this  way  to  one  million  out  of  five  ; 
but  there  is  full  evidence  en  record,  that  his  firft  computation 
was  more  accurate  than  the  fecond. 

"  In  1698,  a  propofal  was  made  to  parliament,  of  advancing 
"  two  millions  to  government,  at  eight  per  cent,  provided  the 
"  fubferibers  were  erected  into  a  new  Eaft-India  company,  with 
u  exclufive  privileges.  The  old  Eaft-India  company  offered  fe- 
K  ven  hundred  thoufand  pounds,  nearly  the  amount  of  their 
«  capital,  at  four  per  cent,  upon  the  fame  conditions.  But  fuch 
"  was,  at  that  time,  the  fate  of  public  credit,  that  it  was  more 
"  convenient  for  government  to  borrow  two  millions  at  eight 
«  per  cent,  than  feven  hundred  thoufand  pounds  at  four.  The 
"  propofal  of  the  new  fubferibers  was  accepted|| ."  The  two  mil- 
lions coft  an  intereft  of  one  hundred  and  fixty  thoufand  pounds. 
The  feven  hundred  thoufand  pounds  could  have  been  had  at 
four  per  cent,  that  is,  for  twenty-eight  thoufand.  Out  of  the 
two  millions,  therefore,  feven  hundred  thoufand  pounds  were 
only  worth  twenty-eight  thoufand  pounds,  and  the  remaining 
one  hundred  and  thirty-two  thoufand  of  intereft,  was  the  fum 
really  paid  for  the  remaining  thirteen  hundred  thoufand  pounds 
of  principal.  Thus,  the  latter  fum,  in  fact,  coft  the  public  ten 
per  cent,  with  an  overplus,  on  the  whole,  of  two  thoufand 
pounds.  Thefe  details  are  perhaps  dry,  but  they  are  fufficiently 
intelligible,  and  all  men  of  fenfe  will  acknowledge,  that  they 
are  extremely  ufeful.  If  Britilh  hiftorians  had  uniformly  com- 

*  Hiftory  of  the  public  revenue,  &c.  Part  11.  chap.  4.         f  R>S4. 
\  Ibid. 

||  Inquiry  into  the  n3turc  and  caufes  of  the  Wealth  of  Nations,  Book  V. 
Chap.  I.  Part  3d,  Article  I. 


(   u  ) . 

■  pofed  thx?ir  worfe  an  this  plan,  we  mould  long  fince  hire  re- 
nounced entirely,  or,  at  ieaft,  in  a  great  degree,  the  practice  of  fo- 
reign wars.  With  all  proper  deference  to  Quintirian,  fuch  a 
itile  is  preferable  to  that  of  any  hiftorical  writer  in  his  ion? 
catalogue  of  literary  heroes.  Let  us  return,  with  thefe  ufefiil  cal- 
culations, to  the  reign  of  William. 

Xhe  management  of  this  money,  when  obtained,  correfpon- 
ded  with  the  terms  of  tlie  loan.  In  the  reign  of  Willi  im  the 
Third,  the  civil  lift,  that  cup  of  a&omiftatibns,  was  fupported  by 
certain  taxes,  appropriated  for  that  purpofe,  and  which  amoun- 
ted "  at  an  average,  to  about  fix  hundred  and  eighty  thoufand 
"  pounds  per  annum*.'  Trie  public  revenue^  of  England,  after 
every  poihbie  extortion,  was  only  fcrewed  up  to  three  million-, 
eight  hundred  and  ninety-fire  thoufand,  two  hundred  and  five 
pounds-}-  j  Co  that  the  civil  iiit  was  lefs  than  one-fifth,  but  more 
than  one-fixth  part  of  the  whole  revenues  of  England.  If  the  civil 
lilt  of  this  day  bore  the  fame  proportion  to  the  national  income, 
it  would  extend  to  at  lealt  three  millions Jlerling.  Sir  John  Sinclair 
has  given  a  complete  itate  of  the  whole  expences  of  the  civil 
lift,  during  the  thirteen  years  of  the  reign  of  the  Proteilant  hero. 
A  few  articles  may  ierve  as  a  fpecimen  of  the  reft.  To  the  robes, 
fifty-feven  thoufand  pounds.  This  money  would  have  clothed  two 
thoufand  poor  people,  at  forty  millings  each,  per  annum,  for  thir- 
teen years,  w^ith  a'reverfion  of  five  thoufand  pounds  for  the  drefs 
of  the  royal  family,  which  confided,  properly  fpeaking,  but  of 
two  per  Ions.  Jewels  fxty  thoufand  pounds*  Plate,  one  hundred  and 
tiuo  thoufand  pounds.  Band  of  gentlemen  penlioners,  Jlxtynine 
thoufand pcunds.To  making  gardens,  befides  an  account  paid  un- 
der a  different  head,  one  hundred  and  thirtx-three  thoufand  pounds. 
'A  letting  apart  thirty-three  thoufand  pounds  for  his  gardens, 
William  could  have  appiiecLtJie  reft  of  this  money  much  bet- 
ter. He  might  have  parcelled  out  of  the  crown  lands,  which 
are  to  this  day  lying  waftc,  in  the  centre  of  England,  two  thou- 
sand fmall  farms.  On  each  of  his  tenants,  he  might  have  be- 
llowed fifty  pounds  to  begin  the  world  -,  and  the  fifft  ten  years 
of  a  perpetual  leafe,  free  of  rent.  To  tfhe  ftables,  t*wo  hundred 
thoufand  pounds.  To  the  great  wardrobe,  three 
red  and  nineteen  thoufand  pounds.  This  fum  would  have 
clothed  an  army  of  iixtv  thoufand  men  j  or,  what  is  more  efti- 
mable,  ten  thoufand  tradefmen  and  their  families.  Privy  purfe, 
h  <°d  and  eight \  -three  thou (and pound:. .  For  half  this  mone y, 
we  might  have  had  a  beautiful  edition  of  all  the  Greek  and  Ro- 
man ejafhes,  with  Englifh  trandations.  To  the  treafurer  of  the 
chambers,  four  hundred  and  eighty-four  thoufand  pounds.  This 
fum  would  have  bum  of  the  utmoft  ferviee,  in  paving  and  light- 

.  r<      m<     '■■-'■■  in.  chap.  i.  f  Ibi  1. 


(  IJ  ) . 

ing  the  itreets  of  London.  To  the  treaiurer  of  the  kte  Queen] 
whofe  filter, Queen  Anne,  William  did  not  think  worth  a  plate- 
full  of  green  peas*,  five  hundred  and  fix  thoufand  pounds.  To 
the  prince  and  princefs  of  Denmark,  a  harmleis  but  ufelefs 
couple,  fix  hundred  and  thirty-eight  th     ,  h.  Fifty-three 

thoufand  debtors,  at  twelve  pounds  each,  might  have  been  reliev- 
ed from  prifon  by  this  money  ;  or  a  fund  might  have  been  fva- 
blifned  with  it,  for  the  annual  difeharje  of  a  thoufand  pri- 
soners of  that  kind,  on  the  birth-dav  of  his  majeity,  and  an 
equal  number  on  the  day.  when  he  figned  a  warrant  for  the  maf- 
facre  of  Glenco.  Secret  fervices,  feven  hundred  and  feventy-five 
thoufand  pounds.  Fees  and  falaries,  eight  hundred  and  fifty-eight 
thoufand  pounds.  Penfions  and  annuities, //.v  hundred  and  eighty- 
Jh;  thoufand  pounds.  Cofferer  of  the  houfehold,  thirteen  hundred 
thoufand  pounds*  In  the  end  of  the  laft  century  one  lhiliing  went 
farther  than  three  can  go  now  ;  fo  that  this  fum  was  equal  in 
reality  to  four  millions  at  this  day.  The  deliverer  of  England, 
therefore,  fpent  what  correfponds  to  three  hundred  thoufand 
pounds  per  annum,  on  his  houfehold,  for  thirteen  years,  while, 
during  a  confiderable  part  of  his  reign,  his  fubjects,  by  thou- 
lands  and  ten  thouiands,  expired  of  hunger}-.  To  the  paymaf- 
ter  of  the  works,  four  hundred  and  feventy-four  thoufand  pounds* 
The  whole  bill  extends  to  eight  millions  eight  hundred  and  eigh- 
ty thoufand  pounds  ;  and  it  does  not  appear  that  one-fourth  part 
of  it  was  expended  for  wife  and  uieful.purpofesi.  This  was  the 
frugality  of  government,  at  a  time,  when  they  were  compelled  to 
borrow  money,  at  ten,  per  cent. 

In  the  next  reign,  the  fyftem  was  not  much  improved.  An 
Englifh  houfe  of  commons  informed  Queen  Anne,  that  "  there 
"  remained  atChiiftmas,  1710,  thirty-live  millions,  three  hun- 
**  dred  and  two  thoufand,  one  hundred  and  feven  pounds  of 
"  pubHc  money  unaccounted  forro."  In  17 14,  one  million,  eight 
hundred  and  feventy-fix  thoufand  pounds  were  raifed  by  a  lot- 
tery. Out  of  this  fum,  four  hundred  and  feventy-fix  thoufand 
pounds  were  distributed  among  the  proprietors  of  the  fortunate 
tickets.  This  was  a  premium  of  about  thirty-four  per  cent,  on 
the  fum  actually  received|j.  In  1744,  the  charter  of  the  Eaft- 
India  company  was  prolonged  from  1766  to  1780.  This  wa? 
an  anticipation  of  twenty-three  years.  The  value  of  the 
compensation,  granted  by  the  company  to  government,  did  not 
exceed  thirty  thoufand  pounds^.  This  was  like  Efaii  felling  his 
birth-right  for  a  mefs  of  pottage.  If  the  bargain  had  been  de- 

*  Anecdotes  of  the  Duehefs  of  Marlborough.  f  Infra,  chap.  3. 

i  Sixteen    hundred  and  feVent'y  pounds  for  the  widows  of  omcers,    ap  1  .-.., 
like  FalftatF's  half-penny  worth  of  bread,  in  a  corner  of  one  article. 
f  §  Hiftorv  of  the  public  revenue,  Part  ix.  chap,  4. 

H   Ifcid.    '  f  Ibid. 


(  »tf  ) 

ferred  till  the  expiration  of  the  former  monopoly,  perhaps  for- 
ty times  that  fum  could  have  been  obtained. 

Sir  John  Sinclair  gives  a  "  general  view  of  premiums  upon 
«  the  new  loans,"  in  the  war  of  1756.*'  Thefe  premiums  amount 
in  value  to  fourteen  millions ,  two  hundred  and  eighty-three  thou- 
fand, nine  hundred  and  feventy-five  pounds  jlerling.  The  total  fum 
borrowed,  and  added  to  the  national  debt,  for  this  premium, 
was  feventy-two  millions,  one  hundred  and  eleven  thoufand, 
and  four  pounds.  The  premium  is,  within  a  perfect  trifle,  one- 
fifth  part  of  the  whole  money  obtained.  Thus,  out  of  every 
twenty  (hillings  of  the  loan,  we  gave  back  four  {hillings  as  a 
reward  for  the  lender.  At  this  rate,  the  Britifh  armies  conquer- 
ed Guadaloupe  and  Canada  •,  and  we  continue  to  boaft  of  the 
glory  of  thefe  exploits.  Yet  a  perfon  might,  with  as  much  rea- 
fon,  burn  his  houie,  for  the  fake  of  roafting  an  egg  in  its  allies. 
We  may  fuppofe,  that  the  reft  of  the  national  debt  was  created 
upon  terms  at  leaft  equally  hard  ;  and  the  fifth  part  of  the 
whole  two  hundred  and  fifty  millions  contracted,  gives  a  pre- 
mium of  fifty  millions  sterltng.  After  fuch  work,  it  is 
not  wonderful,  that  we  are  now  harneiTed  in  debts  and  taxes, 
like  horfes  in  a  carriage.  One-third  part  of  the  expences  of  a 
family  confift  in  the  payment  of  public  burdens.  Five  hun- 
dred thoufand  people  in  England  are  fupported  by  charity.f 
We  mud  give  twenty-fix  pounds  fterling  per  annum  for  leave 
to  keep  a  hackney  coach  ;  and  twenty  {hillings  per  annum  for 
leave  to  make  a  farthing  candle,  befides  one  penny  per  pound 
of  excife  upon  the  manufacture  •,  nine-pence  per  pound  of  im- 
portation duty  for  Peruvian  bark ;  and  three  guineas  for  leave  to 
{hoot  a  partridge  worth  two-pence.  Half  the  price  of  a  bottle 
of  wine,  or  a  bowl  of  punch,  goes  off  in  taxes,  for  leave  to 
drink  it.  This  deferves  not  to  be  termed  the  language  of  ma- 
lignity. Thofe  who  pay  the  reckoning  have  a  right  to  read  the 
bill. 

I  am  no  orator  as  Brutus  is, 

To  ftir  men's  blood ;  I  only  fpeak  right  on. 

I  tell  you  that  which  you  yourfelves  do  know. 

*   Part   11.  chap.  4. 

f  Dr.  Wendeborn,  a  candid,  and  well  informed  writer,  in  his  View  of  Eng- 
land, towards  the  clofe  of  the  eighteenth  century,  fays,  that  "  whoever  lives 
"  upon  a  thoufand  a  vear,  is  fuppofed  to  pay  at  prefent  about  fix  hundred  oi  it 
*  in  government  duties,  taxes,  excife,  church  parifh  and  pooF  rate*." 

He  alfo  obferves,  that  of  the  people  of  England,  "  one  million  is  fo  poor  it 
"  mud  be  fupported  by  the  reft."  Thefe  affertions  have  been  confiderably 
foftened  in  the  text,  to  avoid  any  charge  of  exaggeration.  They  do  not  apply 
to  Scotland,  where  beggars  are  lefs  numerous,  and  parifh  and  poor  rates  but 
little  known. 

As  a  neceffary  confequence  of  this  enormous  taxation,  the  author  informs 
us,  that  "  fifty  years  ago,  a  family  might  live  very  handfomely  on  five  hundred 
"  pounds  per  annum,  but  a  thoufand  will  at  prefent  hardly  go  fo  far :" 


(     »7     ) 

On  the  27th  of  December,  1791,  a  bill  for  an  additional  duty 

on  malt,  came  before  the  houfe  of  peers.  On  this  occafion,  lord 

Kinnoul  faid,  that  "  their  lordfhips  were  not  perhaps  apprifed 

**  of  the  rate  at  which  barley,  in  its  various  forms,  was  already 

"  taxed ;  if  they  were   not,   the  enumeration  would  aftonifh 

«*  them.   As  malt  only,  it  was  taxed  at  the  rate  of  ten  millings" 

k«  and   fix   pence   per  quarter.  The   additional  duty  of  three 

Xf .  pence  per  bufhel  would  raife   it  to  twelve  millings  and  fix 

u  pence  per  quarter.  When  to  this  were  added  the  land  tax, 

u  and  the  duties  en  beer,  which  he  feverally  calculated,   it 

**  would  be  found,   that   the  raw  commodity,  which  brought 

«  the  proprietor  of  the  foil  on  which  it  was  raifed,  about  ?iine 

Xi  JJjillings,  paid  to  government,  in  its  feveral  fiages,  above  two 

«  pounds  ten  JlM!i?:gs\"  Every  perfon  who  advanced  a  part  of 

"thefe  two  pounds  ten  millings,  would  make  a  feparate  charge 

on  his  cuftomer  for  the  advance  of  his  money,  fo  that  thefe  two 

pounds  ten  millings  would  finally  coft  the  drinker  of  the  liquor 

at  lead  three  pounds  ten  millings,  perhaps  four  or  five  pounds  \ 

and  all  this  on  an  article  originally  worth  nine  ihillings.  The  caU 

culation  of  four  or  five  pounds,  being  charged  for  two  pounds 

ten  {hillings,  will  not  feem  unreafonable,  if  we  confider  what 

follows.  A  tax  of  a  penny  per  bottle,  or  fome  fuch  trifle,  was  once 

impofed  by  lord  North  on  the  retailers  of  wine.  To  the  furprife 

of  all  men,  the  vintners  of  London  inftantly  raifed  the  liquor  fix 

pence  per  bottle.  If  Britain  pays  at  prefent  eighteen  millions  fter* 

Jing  of  taxes  to  the  crown,  we  may  fairly  compute  that  (he  pays 

at  leafr.  twelve   millions  of  an  additional,    though  invifible  tax, 

to  the  landholders,  merchants,  and  manufacturers,  who,  in  the 

jfirft  place,  advance  the  money.  At  the  opening  of  a  minifterial 

budget,  there  is  never  heard  any  notice  as  to  this  filent  but  moft 

inevitable  and  terrible  of  all  taxes.  Between  this  burden,  and 

that  of  tide-waiters  and  excife-men,   it  may  be  feared,    that 

every   milling  which  goes  into  the  exchequer,  has,    upon  a 

medium,  colt  two  millings  to  the  nation. 

One  other  inftance  only  (hall  be  fubjoined  in  this  place,  of 
the  manner  in  which  public  debts  have  been  contracted.  Irr 
1^81,  Lord  North  received  for  the  national  fervice  twelve 
millions  fterling.  For  this  furn  he  gave  eighteen  millions  of 
three  per  ant.  ftock,  and  three  millions  of  four^r  cent,  flock. 
The  annual  intereft  of  theie  two  fums  is  fix  hundred  and  fixty 
thoufand  pounds,  or  five  and  an  half  per  cent,  for  the  twelve 
millions  actually  received.  Money  is  not  commonly  advanced 
in  England,  at  more  than  four  and  an  half  per  cent,  of  intereft  ; 
and  very  frequently  at  four  per  cent.  At  the  former  of  thefe 
two  rates,  the  twelve  millions  borrowed  by  Lord  North  ought 

f  Senator,  Vol.  I,  page  245. 


(     i8    J 

©nly  to  have  coft  five  hundred  and  forty  thotifand  pounds'  per 
annum.  The  one  hundred  and  twenty  thoufand  pounds  addition- 
al, at  twenty-five  years  piirchate,  make  a  premium  of  three 
millions  fterling  for  the  loan  of  twelve  millions,  it  is  not  fur- 
prifing  that  Sir  John  Sinclair,  Dr.  Swift  arid  other  writers, 
complain  i'o  loudly  of  the  fcandalous  conditions  upon  which  the 
public  debts  of  Britain  have  been  borrowed.  1  he  original  con- 
tractors wirh  government  for  lending  of  the  money,  remind  us 
of  a  band  of  ufurers,  embracing  every  advantage  over  the  ne- 
cefiries  of  the  Irate  ;  while  the  minhters  of  the  crown  feem 
like  defperate  gameiters,  who  care  not  by  what  future  expence 
they  iecure  another  call  of  the  dice.  From  the  facls  above 
Hated,  the  public  funds  prove  to  be  aflupendous  mafs  of  fraud., 
profligacy,  impodure  and  extortion.  Behold  that  facred  edi- 
fice of  national  faith,  that  political  janfftim  JhnBorum,  which 
we  fupport  at  an  annual  expence  of  eleven  millions  and  an  half 
fterling  !* 

What  kind  of  gentry  fome  of  thefe  creditors  are,  there  was 
no  body  better  able  to  inform  us  than  the  late  Earl  of  Chatham. 
"  There  is  a  fet  of  men,"  lavs  he,  "  in  the  city  of  London, 
il  who  are  known  to  live  in  riot  and  luxury,  upon  the  plunder 
"  of  the  ignoiant,  the  innocent,  and  the  helpfefe,  upon  that 
*'  part  of  the  community,  which  Hand's  mofi  in  need  of,  and 
bed  creferves  the  care  and  protection  of  the  legiilature.  To 
u  me,  my  Lords,  whether  they  be  mrferable  jobbers  of  Change- 
Alley,  or  the  lofty  Afiatic  plunderers  of  Leadenhall  Sticet, 
they  are  all  equally  detcftable.  1  care  but  litfie  whether  a  man 
walks  on  foot,  or  is  drawn  by  eight  horfesj  or'  fix  horfes  ; 
if  his  luxury  be  fupported  by  the  plunder  of  his  country,  I 
"  defpifeand  abhor  him.  My  Lords,  while  I  had  the  honour 
**  of  fervinrr  his  Majeltv,  /  never  ventured  to  look  at  the  trea- 
'"*  surv,  but  from  a  diftance  ;  it  is  a  bufinefs  1  am  unfit  for, 
"  and  to  which  I  never  could  have  fubnrttecr.  The  little  I 
know  o;"  it,  has  not  ferved  to  raife  my  opinion  of  what  is 
vulgarly  called  the  monied interefl,  I  mean  that  blood-suck- 
er, that  muckworm,  which  calls  rtfelf  the  friend  of  Go- 
vernment, which  pretends  to  ferve  this  or  that  adminiftration, 
and  may  be  purchaied  on  the  fame  terms  by  any  ad  mini  ft ra- 
tion. Under  this  description,  I  include  the  whole  race  of 
comrnitlioncrs,  jobbers,  contractors,  ckrthiers,  and  remit- 
ters')* •" 


*  Of  the  original  commencement  of  this-  clt br,  the  charafters,  motives,  and  emolu* 
merits  of  its  authors,  the  reader  may  find  an  authentic  Inflory  in  the  Political Progrefs, 
Part  Li,   which  will  appear  in  a  tew  months. 

f  Vide  his  fpeech  in  the  debate  on  Falkland's  Iflands,  -which  has  been  re-printed  in 
the  Anecdotes  of  his  Life  juft  publifhed.  1  his  quane"  ended,  like  others,  in  cur  dis- 
appointment, and  perhaps  difgrace.  Befides much  expence  and  trouble  to  individuals, 
tie  nation  fuuandered  between  three  and  four  m-llie*.  Berling, 


(     19    ) 

The  friends  of  Mr.  William  Pitt  boaft  much  of  the  nm£ 
millions  of  debt,  which,  in  a  period  of  fix  years,  he  is  laid  to 
have  diicharged.  The  fcheme  is  an  abfoiute  bubble.  He  be- 
gan to  buy-  up  three  per  cents,  in  April  1786  ;  at  which  time 
they  fold  for  fevenly.  They  role,  a! moil  initautiy,  to  feventy- 
feven,  and  upwards.  They  have  (ince  been  much  higher; 
and  if  the  miniiter  mall  make  any  fubftantial  progreis  in  his 
plan,  they  will  very  i'oon  reach  an  hundred  per  cent,  and 
very  likely  go  higher.  Thus,  as  Sir  John  Sinclair  obfervei 
*'  the  more  we  pay,  the  more  we  (hall  be  indebted',  every  fhil- 
"  ling  that  is  laid  out  in  pure  run  ngjtccfc,  raifes  the  price  pro* 
"  porttonably"  So  peculiar  is  the  nature  of  this  national  debt, 
and  lb  very  hazardous  an  attempt  to  discharge  it !  To  make  this 
quite  plain,  it  may  beobferved,  that  when  Mr.  Pitt  full  began 
to  buy  up  itock,  the  market  price  of  the  whole  three  per  cent, 
funds,  was  ail  together  but  one  hundred  and  levcnteen  million^, 
fix  hundred  and  'oitv-three  thoufard  pounds.  In  two  years  and 
an  half,  he  hid  purchased  a  I'mall  part  of  it  ;  but  the  prodigious 
parade  that  he  made  about  this  operation,  railed  the  price  of 
the  remaining  Jlock  to  one  hundred  and  twenty-two  millions, 
four  hundred  and  twenty  thoufand  pound;.  The  iequel,  in 
October  1788,  was,  that  the  miniller  had  expended  or  funk 
two  millions  and  jeven  hundred  thoujand  pounds,  and  yet,  he 
left  matters  worse  than  he  found  them  by  Jour  millions, 
Jeven  hundred  and Jeyenty- Jeven  thoujand  pounds.  The  follow- 
ing ftatement  puts  the  matter  in  a  ihort,  and  ciear  view  : 

In  October,    17S&,  the  value  of  the  whole 
remaining  three  per  cent,  frock  was      -         -      ^122,420,401 

Mr.  Pitt,  at  an  expence  of  two 
millions,  (even  hundred  thouiaud 
pounds,  had  before  purchafed  (lock 
to  the  amount  of         -  ^£"3, 626,000 

In  -.April  1786,  before  he  began  to  buy  up  at 
all,  the  whole  three  per  cents,  were  only  at  fe- 
venty  per  cent,  or  117,643,308 

Actual  increase  of  national  debt, over 
and  above  the  two  millions,  feven  hundred  thou- 

land    pounds,    cail    away    in    the    purchaic   of    ■»■  ■ 

ftock         -  -  -  004,777,093 

It  mud  be  acknowledged,  In  favour  of  Mr.  Pitt,  that  while 
he  has  augmented  the  principal  fum  of  the  national  debt,  he 
has  reduced  the  annual  payment  of  intereit.  The  three  mil- 
lions and  fix  hundred  thoufand  pounds  of  three  per  cents,  which 
are  paid  orF,  colt,  formerly,  one  hundred  and  eight  thoufand 
pounds  per  annum  of  intereft,  which  is  now  extinguished. 
This  is  the  fole  advantage  anting  to  the  public  from  the  trans- 
action. But  there  was  a  il  orter  way  to  have  come  at  this  tarae 
purpofe.     Mr.  Pitt  and  his  parliament  ought  to  have,  (truck 


(       2°       ) 

number  of  ufelefs  penfioners,  fueh, 
ample,  as  the  groom  of  the  ftole,  the  mafter  of  the  horfe,  the 
matter  of  the  robes,  the  mafter  of  the  hawks,  twelve  lords  and 
twelve  grooms  of  the  bed-chamber,  twenty-four   preachers  in 
bis  majefty's  chapel   at   Whitehall,  and   the  wet  nurfes  of  the 
prince  of  Wales  and  the  duke  of  York*.     Inftead  of  abolifh- 
ing  ufelefs  places,  to  difcharge  this  annuity,  Mr.  Pitt  fqueezed 
out  of  the   people   two  millions  and  {even,  hundred  thoufand 
pounds,  which,  with  the  expence  of  collecting  it,  comes  to  at 
leafr.  three  millions  fterling.     The   extinction   of  a  burden  of 
one  hundred  and  eight  thoufand  pounds  per  annum  has  thus  coll 
mere  than  it  is  worth.     At  four  and  an  h?Jf  per  cent,  three  mil- 
lions produce  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  thoufand  pounds  per 
annum  ;  which  is  itfelf  twenty-feven  thoufand  pounds  more  than, 
the  annuity  extinguifhed.     Here  we  mult  obferve,  that  ten  per 
cent,  is  but  a  moderate  and  ordinary  profit  on  the  capital  offteck, 
either  in   husbandry,  commerce,  or  manufactures.     Hence,  if 
thefe  three  millions  had  been  furFered  to  remain  in   the  hands 
of  the  people  of  Britain,  they  would  have  afforded  to  the  com-. 
munity  at  large,  at  leaft  three  hundred  thoufand  pounds  per  an* 
Kium  of  additional  wealth ;  and   perhaps  twice  or  thrice   that 
Aim.     The  ilighteft  and  mod  necefTary  taxes,  are,  therefore, 
\n  their  own  nature,  very  deftrucrive.     When  a  tobacconift,  or 
a  tanner,  pays  thirty  pounds  of  excife,  he  does  not  merely  lofc 
thirty  millings  per  annum,  as  the  legal  interest  of  his  money  ; 
but  he  is  iikewiie  prevented  from  the  chance  of  converting  this 
capital  of  thirty  pounds  into  an  augmented  ium  of  thirty-three, 
thirty-fix,  or  forty  pounds.     If  the  tradefman   can  (hove  the 
tax  upon   his  cuftomers,  by  raiting  the  price  of  his  commodi- 
ties, it  comes  exactly  to  the  fame  point  at  lafl,  as  their  active 
capitals  are  always,  and  with  mathematical  certainty,  reduced 
in  an  equal   proportion.     Thus  it  is  evident,  that  every  fum 
raifed  from   the  public  as  an  impoft,  or  excife,  muft  in  reality 
coit  them  ten  per  cent.     This,  by  the  way,  demonftrates  the 
raihnefs  of  wars  undertaken  in  defence  of  a  foreign  trade,  fmcc 
the  fums  levied   to   fupport  the  druggie  are,  every  farthing  of 
them,  drawn  from  the  circulation   of  domeftic   commerce  ;    a, 
commerce  always  more  fafe,  and  very  commonly  more   profit-* 
able,  than  that  which  kings  are  fo  frequently  fighting  for.     A 
commercial  war  is  truly  cqjling  our  bread  upon  the  waters,  thab 
xoe  may  find  it  after  many  days.     Now,  as  every  million  of 
pounds,  railed  by   government  from  the  people  of  Britain,  is, 
upon  an  average,  at  leaft  equal   to  an  annuity  for  ever,  of  an 
hundred  thoufand  pounds,  out  oj"  the  pockets  of  thofe  who  pay 

*  In  the  court  and  city  calendar,  for  1775,  eight  of  thefe  ladies  are  charged  to  the, 
ration,  at  falaries  each  of  two  hundred  pounds  per  annum;  befides  dry  nurfes,  work- 
women, rockers,  and  other  luggage  of  the  fame  fort. 


(  tl  ) 

it,  the  inference  is",  that  if  Mr.  Pitt  had  underftood  or  regard- 
ed the  intereit.  of  this  country,  he  never  would  have  undertaken 
to  diicharge  a  debt  hearing  three  per  cent,  at  an  expence  of  ten  j 
or,  as  before  obferved,  an  annuity  of  one  hundred  and  eight 
thoufand  pounds,  by  paying  a  capital  of  three  millions,  pro- 
ducing a  yearly  profit  of  three  hundred  thoufand  pounds  to  the 
holders  of  it.  In  this  way  Mr.  Pitt  pavs  off  the  public  debt. 
Since  October  1 788, flocks  have  rifen  prodigiouliy  ;  fothat  the  pe- 
riod here  chofen  for  the  examination  of  this  celebrated  project,  is 
by  far  the  mod  favourable  that  can  be  taken.  A  full  account 
of  its  fubfequent  hiitory  will  be  given  heieafter.  Mr.  I  itt 
might  as  well  propoie  to  empty  the  Baltic  with  a  tobacco  pipe. 
But  let  us  admit  the  cafe,  that  he  at  prefent  had  an  hundred 
millions  in  the  exchequer.  The  diicharge  of  the  pul  lie  debt 
js,  on  his  principles,  abfurd  andunjuft.  Stccks  would  inftant* 
ly  rife  to  at  lcaft  an  hundred  ;  and  he  begins  perhaps  by  pay- 
ing olf  the  twenty-one  millions  of  three  and  four  per  cents,  for 
which  Lord  North  actually  received  but  twelve  millions.  Thus, 
after  giving,  as  above  itated,  five  and  an  half  pe r  cent,  for  a 
loan  of  twelve  millions,  we  diicharge  that  original  twelve  mil*, 
lions  itfelf,  with  tzventy-ojie  millions.  The  prefent  fcheme  for 
extinguiihing  the  public  debt  is  therefore  impracticable,  if  it 
were  honeft,  and,  as  an  act  of  robbery  againit  curfclves,  it 
would  be  difhoneft,  if  it  were  practicable. 

But,  luppofing  that  Mr.  Pitt  had  in  reality  paid  off  nine  mil-* 
lions  of  debt,  and  leflened  the  public  burdens  of  its  intereft, 
yet,  for  the  fake  of  an  impartial  and  fatisfa&ory  argument,  his 
advocates  ought  to  arrange,  in  ?.n  epponte  column,  a  lift  of  the 
additional  taxes  which  he  has  impofed,  and  of  the  thou  lands  of 
families,  whom  fuch  taxes  have  ruined.*  A  third  doiumtl 
fhould  contain  a  lift  of  the  millions  which  this  minifter  has 
waited  upon  Spanilh  and  Ruffian  armaments,  on  the  unprovoked 
and  piratical  war  againit  Tipoo  Saib,  on  the  Chinefe  embativ, 
the  fucceffive  elections  for  Weftmiiiiter,  the  creditors  of  the 
prince  of  Wales,  and  the  nabob  of  Arcot,  and  the  Baratrian 
fettlement  of  Botany  Bay.  The  pretended  plan  of  difcharging 
the  national  debt,  on  which  Mr.  Pitt  fometimes  expatiates  to 
parliament,  for  two  hours  together,  was  but  a  forty  trap  for  po-» 
puiarity  ;  and  if  "  ths Jzvin?JIi  multitude"  had  been  much  wife? 

*  In  T723,  the  tax  on  hawkers  and  pedlars  in  England,  produced,  in  the  grofs,  ten 
thoufand,  (even  buarfred  and  feventy-three  pounds  j  and  eight  thoufand,  iix  hundred 
2nd  four  pounds  cf  net  income.  T.  hus,  one-fifth  of  the  revenue  was  funk  in  the  col- 
legion.  In  1705,  Mr.  Pitt,  cutting  the  feeond  inch  cut  of  a  man's  npfe,  doubted  the 
tax  ;  and,  in  1788,  the  total  amount  cf  it  had  fhrunk  10  Jii'c  thvufinid,  four  hundred 
«nd  Jixty  one  pounds.  Of  this  fum,  the  net  produce  was  but  izvo  thoufand,  one  hun- 
dred and  [even  ty  pounds  ;  tii  -ce-:  fths  of  the  produce  of  the  tax,  were  thus  funk  in 
collevfting  t.  This  diabolical  isipoft  was  laid  fcr  the  profetfed  purpcie  of  extirpating 
pedlars.  Crowds  of  them  weve  reduced  to  a  fta:e  of  itarving.  1  he  new  addjuiou 
tc  the  tax  hath  fmce  been  repealed.  Vid.  i'enze  Recount  of  it  in  the  hiitory  of  the 
put hp  revenue.     Part  III.  clup.  3. 


(       "       ) 

than  the  reft  of  their  family,  they  mud,  in  a  moment,  hare 
feen  through  and  deipifed  theartihee.  The  dehts  of  Britain  never 
will  he  paid  ;  they  never  can  be  paid  ;  and  in  the  present  way 
of  dii'charging  them,  they  never,  in  jufiice,  ought  to  be  paid. 
The  hardinefs  of  the  father  of  this  dclufion,  exceeds  any  tiling 
that  was  ever  heard  of;  becaufe  his  arguments  and  ademptions 
are,  as  above  explained,  in  a  ftate  of  hoftility  with  the  multi- 
plication table  ;  and  becaufe,  though  religious  impoftors  have 
pretended  to  work  miracles,  yet  none  even  of  them  has  ever 
aflTerted  that  two  and  two  make  five.  But  though  thele  debts 
will  never  he  extinguished  by  the  attempts  of  the  minifter,  they 
have  certainly  pafletl  the  meridian  of  their  exiftence.  Had  the 
war  with  America  laftcd  for  two  years  longer,  Britain  would 
not,  at  this  day,  have  owed  a  Ihilling  ;  and  if  we  (hall  perhlt 
in  rufhing  into  carnage,  with  our  wonted  contempt  of  all  feel- 
ing and  reflection,  it  rr.uft  ftill  be  expected,  that,  according  to 
the  practice  of  other  nations,  a  fponge  or  a  bonfire  will  hnilh 
the  game  of  funding. 

What  advantage  has  refulted  to  Britain  from  fuch  inceflant 
fcencs  of  prodigality  and  of  bloodlhed  ?  In  the  wars  of  1689, 
and  1702,  this  country  was  but  an  hobby-horfc  for  the  empe- 
ror and  the  Dutch.  The  rebellion  in  1 7 1 5 ,  was  excited  by 
the  defpotic  infolence  of  the  whigs.  George  the  Firft  pur- 
chafed  Bremen  and  Verden,  from  the  King  of  Denmark,  to- 
whom  they  did  not  belong.  This  pitiful  and  dirty  bargain 
produced  the  Spanifh  war  of  1718,  and  a  fquadron  difpatched 
for  fix  different  years  to  the  Baltic*  Such  exertions  coft  us  an 
hundred  times  more  than  thef*  quagmire  duchies  are  worth, 
even  to  an  elector  of  Hanover  ;  a  diftinoiion  which,  on  this 
buunefs,  becomes"  .neceffary,  for  as  to  Britain,  it  was  never 
pretended,  that  we  could  gain  a  farthing  by  fuch  an  acquisi- 
tion*. In  1727,  the  nation  forced  the  fame  George  into  a 
war  with  Spain,  which  ended  as  ufual  with  much  rriifchief  on 
both  fi  les.  The  Spanifh  war  of  the  people  in  1739,  and  the 
Auftrian  fubftdy  war  of  the  crown,  which  commenced  in  1741, 
were  abfurd  in  their  principles,  and  ruinous  in  their  confe- 
quenccsi  At  lea,  we  met  with  nothing  but  hard  blows.  On 
the  continent,  we  began  by  hiring  the  queen  of  Hungary  to 
right  her  own  battles  a  gain  ft  the  king  of  Pruflia,  and  ten  years 
after  that  war  had  ended,  we  hired  the  king  of  Pruflia,  with 
fix  hundred  and  feventy  one  thoufand  pounds  per  annum,  to 
fight  his  own  battles  againfl  her.  If  this  be  not  folly,  what 
are  we  to  call  it?  As  to  the  quarrel  of  1756,  "  3t  was  remark- 
"  cd  bv  all  Europe,"  fays  Frederick,  "  that  in  her  difpute 
"  with  France,  every  wrong  Jlcp  was  on  the  fide  of  England" 

*  The  (blitary  muttering  of  Poftlethwaite,  in  his  dictionary,  is  not  worth  naming 

as  an  exception. 


(   >|  ) 

By  feven  years  or  fighting,  and  an  additional  debt  of  fcventv- 
two  millions  flerling,  wc  iecured  Canada  ;  but  had  Wolfe  and 
his  army  been  driven  from  the  heights  of  Abraham,  our 
grandfons  might  have  come  too  early  to  hear  of  an  American 
revolution.  As  to  this  event,  the  circumftances  are  almoft  too 
mocking  for  reflection.  At  that-time  an  Englifh  woman  had 
discovered  a  pretended  remedy  for  the  canine  madnefs,  and  Frede- 
rick advifesa  French  correfpondent  to  recommend  this  medicine  to 
the  vfe  of  the  parliament  of  England,  as  they  mitft  certainly  have 
been  bitten  by  a  mad  dog. 

In  the  quarrels  of  the  continent  we  mould  concern  ourfclves 
but  little  ;  for  in  a  defenfive  war,  we  may  fafely  defy  all  the 
nations  of  Europe.  When  the  whole  civilized  world  was 
embodied  under  the  banners  of  Rome,  the  moft  diflinguifhed 
of  her  conquerors,  at  the  head  of  thirty  thbufand  veterans*, 
difembarked  for  a  fecond  time  on  the  coaft  of  Britain.  The 
face  of  the  country  was  covered  with  a  forelt,  and  the  folitary 
tribes  were  divided  upon  the  old  queftion  Who  f hall  be  king? 
The  Ifland  could  hardly  have  attained  to  a  twentieth  part  of 
its  prefent  population,  yet  by  his  own  account,  the  invader 
found  a  retreat  prudent,  or  perhaps  neceiTary.  South  Britain 
was  afterwards  lubjected,  but  this  acquifition  was  the  talk  of 
more  than  thirty  years.  Every  village  was  bought  with  the 
blood  of  the  legions.  We  may  conhde  in  the  moderation  of 
a  Roman  hiftorian,  when  he  is  to  defcribe  the  diiafters  of  his 
countrymen.  In  a  fmgle  revolt,  feventy  thoufand  of  the 
ufurpers  were  extirpated  ;  and  fifty,  or,  as  others  relate, 
feventy  thoufand  foldiers  perifhed  in  the  courfe  of  a  Caledo- 
nian campaign.  Do  the  matters  of  modern  Europe  underftand 
the  art  of~  war  better  than  Severus,  and  Agricola,  and  Julius 
Caefar?  Is  any  combination  of  human  power  to  be  compared 
with  the  talents  and  resources  of  the  Roman  empire  ?  If  the 
naked  Scots  of  the  firft  century,  refilled  and  vanquifhed  the 
conquerors  of  the  fpecies,  what  ought  we  to  fear  from  any  anta- 
gonist! of  this  day  ?  On  fix  months  warning  Britain  could 
mutter  ten  or  twelve  hundred  thoufand  militia.  Yet,  while 
the  defpots  of  Germany  were  fighting  about  a  fuburb,  the 
nation  has  fubmjtted  to  tremble  for  its  exifierce,  and  the 
bloffoms  of  comettic  happinefs  have  been  blafted  by  crimps, 
and  hibfidies,  and  prefs-gangs,  and  excife  acts.  Our  political 
and  commerical  fyttems  are  evidentlv  nonfenfe.  We  polTefs 
within  this  (ingle  iiland,  every  production  both  of  art  and 
nature,  which  is  necefiary  for  the  molt  comfortable  enjoyment 
of  life  ;  yet  for  the  fake  of  tea,  and  fugar,   and  tobacco,    and 

*  Cseiar  lays  that  he  had  with  him  five  legions,  and  two  thcut'and  Ca-alry,  v  h!  :h 
with  the  light  troot<s,  can  haraly  have  been  lets  than  the  number  fpeciCed  in  th£ 
t$zu     A  legion,  a:  that  time,  con tar.ied  live  thouiand  foiantr/. 


(       24       ) 

it  few  other  defpicable  luxuries,  we  have  rufhed  into  an  abyfs 
of  taxes  and  of  b'ocd.  The  boafted  extent  of  our  trade,  and 
the  quarrels  and  public  debts  which  attend  it,  have  augmented 
the  icarcity  of  bread,  and  even  of  graft,  at  leafl  three  hun- 
dred per  cent. 

There  is  no  law  morejajl,  fays  Virgil,  than  that  the  projec- 
tor of  death  fhould  perijh  by  his  own  Jtratagem.      We   have 
futfered  in  a  full  proportion  to  what  wc  have  inflicted.      As  to 
(he  (laughter  of    our  countrymen   in  time  of    war,    George 
Chalmers,  Efq.    digefts  it  in  a  ftyle  perfectly   fuitable  to   the 
tmderilanding  and  the  confeience  of  a  modern  ftatefman.    The 
Hritiih  ariitocracy  confider  the  reft  of  the  nation,   as  a  common 
dity  bought  and  fold  ;  and  if  we  required  abfolute  evidence  of 
this  truth,    here  is  a  full  atteftation.      "  It  is  not  eafy,"    favs 
"  IVlr  Chalmers,    "  to  calculate  the  numbers  who  die  in  the 
"  camp,  or  the  battle,    more  than  would  periih  from  want,    or 
"  from  vice  in  the  hamlet  or  city.      It  is  fome  conjola'.icn,  that 
*;  the  industrious  are  too  wealthy  and  independent  to  covet  the 
81  pittance  of  the  ieldier,  or  to  court  the  dangers  of  the  failor  ; 
"  and  though  the  f or  fake  n  lover,    or  the  rejllefs  vagrant,   may 
w  have  looked  for  refuge  in  the  army  or  the  fleet,  it  may  admit 
V  of  fome  doubt  how  far  the  giving  proper  employment  to  both, 
*'  (viz.  that  of  committing  robbery  and  murder,  and  of  getting 
*'  themfelves  knocked  on  the  head  for  it,)  may  not  have  freed 
"  their  parifhes  from  dfquittv.de,  and  from  burdens*      It  is  the 
il  expences   more   than   the  flavghter  of    modern  war  which 
*'  debilitate  every  community."*    This  paragraph  explains  the1 
memorable   epithet  which   has  been   beitowed  on   the   Britifh 
ration.     For  if  the  foldiers  and  tailors  of  the  Britifh  army  and 
navy  had  been  transformed  by  the  wand  of  Circe  into  hogs,  or 
even   rats,    it  h  impoilible  that  this  writer  could  havtr  fpoken 
with  greater  indifference  of  their  extirpation.     He  confiders  it 
fes  a  neceflary  circumftance,   that  a  great  part  of   the  common 
people  muft  periiri  from  want  or  from   vice,    unlefs  they  are 
difcharged  in  the  form   of   armies  on   the  reft   of   the   world. 
The  remedy  is  a  thoufand  times  worfe  than  the  difeafe  ;  and  it 
Would   be   more   humane  ;o  give  a  premium  to  poor  people  for 
ftifiing  their  infants  in  the  cradle.     "  If  Tarn  a  coward,"  fays 
Jaifier,  "  who  made  me  fo  ?"     What  but  the  miferablc  con- 
traction of  our  government  can  have  produced  fuch   a   horrid 
neeefhty  ?  When  ten  millions  and  an  half  fterling  per  annum 
are  due,    and   mult   be   paid   to   the   creditors    of  the  nation, 
befides  a   million   to  the  officers    who  collect   it,    when   two 
millions  fterling  are  beftowed  on  the  church  of  England,    and 
a  much  larger  mm  on  penfioners  of  all  kinds,    it  is  impofhble, 
that  we  fhould  not  find  in  the  oppoftte  fcale,    a  correfpondent 

*  Comparative  Eftimat?,  p.   142. 


(     25     ) 

Balance  of  want  and  wretchednefs.  When  you  raife  up  one 
end  of  a  beam  above,  its  level,  the  other  end  muft  fink  in  pro- 
portion. When  you  give  fix  or  eight  hundred  thoufand  pounds 
per  annum  to  a  fingle  family,  and  its  trumpery  of  a  house- 
hold, you  reduce,  with  mathematical  certainty,  thirty  or  forty 
thoufand  families  to  poverty.  It  is  not  difficult  to  fee  that 
fuch  a  political  progrefs  mutt  end  in  a  political  explofion.  Mr. 
Hume,  after  adverting  to  the  extremely  frivolous  ebjeel,  as  he 
calls  it,  of  the  war  in  1756,  makes  this  reflection.  "  Our 
"  late  deluJioris  have  much  exceeded  any  thing  known  in  hifto- 
ry,  not  excepting  even  the  crufades.  For  1  fuppofe  there  is 
no  demonftration  fo  clear,  that  the  Holy  Land  was  not  the 
road  to  paradife,  as  there  is,  that  the  cndlefs  increafe  of  na- 
tional debts,  is  the  direc~t  read  to  national  ruin.  But  having 
now  completely  reached  that  goal,  it  is  needlefs  at  prefent  to 
look  back  on  the  paft.  It  will  be  foend  in  the  prefent 
year  (1776,)  that  all  the  revenues  cf  this  ifland,  northof  Trent, 
V  and  weft  of  Reading,  are  mortgaged  and  anticipated  forever.'* 
He  concludes  with  this  remark  :  "  So  egregious,  indeed, 
"  has  been  our  felly,  that  we  have  even  loft  all  title  to  ccm- 
u  paffton  in  the  numerous  calamities  that  are  awaiting  us."* 

It  is  hard  to  fay  what  Mr.  Chalmers  can  have  defigned  by 
introducing,  in  the  quotation  above  cited,  the  Jorfaken  lover* 
His  allufion  calls  to  our  remembrance  the  practice  of  impref- 
fing  feamen,  and,  in  a  work  of  this  nature,  that  fubject 
deferves  illuftration.  "  The  power  of  impreffing  feamen," 
fays  Blackftone,  "  for  the  fea  fervice,  by  the  king's  cemmiffion, 
11  has  been  a  matter  of  fome  difpute,  and  fubmitted  to  with 
great  reluctance  ;  though  it  hath  very  clearly  and  learnedly 
been  fhewn,  by  Sir  Michael  Foifter,  that  the  praclice  of 
impreffing,  and  granting  powers  to  the  admiralty  for  that 
purpofe,  is  of  very  antient  date,  and  hath  been  uniformly 
continued  by  a  regular  Jeries  cf  precedents  to  theprefent  time  ; 
whence  he  concludes  it  to  be  part  of  the  common  law.  The 
difficulty  arifes  from  hence,  that  no  ilatute  has  exprefsly  de- 
clared tills  power  to  be  in  the  crown,  though  many  of  them 
very  Jlrongly  imply  z'/f."  The  crime  of  man-ftealing  is 
much  greater  than  that  of  robbery,  and  only  juft  lefs  than  that 
of  murder,  in  which  it  has  frequently  terminated.  A  thou- 
fand Britim  ftatutes,  in  defence  of  it,  could  not  have  altered 
the  efience  of  the  guilt.  When  the  late  Spaniih  and  Ruffian 
armaments  were  laid  afide,  perfons  who  had  been  impreiTed, 
were  fometimes  difcharged,  at  the  diftance  of  three  or  four 
hundred  miles  from  their  places  cf  refidence,  and  with  a  bounty 
of  ten  or  fifteen  {hillings  each.    During  the  wife  difpute  about 

*  IHftcry  cf  England,  Vcl.  Vth.'p.  475,  Lor.dor  ^chro  edition,    :77s, 
i  Coonnentanes  on  ihc  laws  of  £sgLma,  Book  !,  Chsp.   ij. 

D 


(      25      ) 

Falkland's  Ifland?,  which  were,  id  value  to  this  country,  below 
tha  power  of  figures,  a  workman  fn  London  was  returning  one 
evening  to  his  family  with  his  u\  cklv  wages.  Me  was  appre- 
hended by  a  prefs-gang,  and  cuft  into  the  hold  of  a  tender. 
His  landlord,  and  fomc  other  creditors,  heard  of  what  thev 
called  bis  elopement.  They  feized  on  his  furniture,  and  his 
wife  and  child  were  turned  to  ihe  door.  Within  a  few  days 
after,  the  mother  was  delivered  of  a  fecond  child,  in  a  garret. 
When  weaknefs  permitted  her  to  riie,  v  (he  left  her  two  naked 
children,  and  wandered  into  the  ftreets,  as  a  common  beggar. 
Initead  of  obtaining  aihfhnce,  me  was  reproached  as  an  aban- 
doned vagabond.  In  defpai*.  ihe  went  into  a  il  op,  and  at- 
tempted to  carry  off  a  fa-all  piece  of  linnen.  She  was  feized, 
tried,  3nd  cond:mned  to  be  'hanged.  In  heir  defence,  the 
woman  faid,  that  ;he  had  lived  reputably  and  happy,  till  a 
preis-izang  robbed  her  of  her  hufband,  and  in  him,  of  all  means 
foiupport  her. elf  and  herfamily  ;  and  thatihattempring  to  clothe 
her  new-born  infant,  fhe  perhaps  did  wrong,  as  ihe  did  not,  at 
that  time,  know  what  ihe  d'd.  The  parifh  officers,  and  other 
witneflfcs^  bore  teftimony  to  the  tru  h  of  hei  averment,  but  all 
to  no  purpofe.  She  was  ordered  for  Tyburn.  Though  her 
milk,  it  ihe  had  any,  mull  ha  e  been  fermented  into  poifon.r 
it  feems  that  nobody  condescended  to  leek  a  nurfe  for  her  child. 
The  hangman  dragged  her  fucking  infant  from  her  breafi,  zvhen 
he  jlraiienea \  the  cord  about  her  nc.cn.  On  the  i::th  of  May, 
1777,  Sir  William  Meredith  mentioned  this  atiaiimation  in 
the  Houfe  of  Commons.  "  Never,"  laid  he,  "  was  there  a 
"  fouler  murder  committed  againft  the  law,  than  that  ot  this 
M  vvomin  bv  the  law."  Thele  were  the  frtrits  of  what  Englifti- 
men  cail  their  ineflimable  privilege  of  a  trial  by  jury.  It  would 
not  be  difficult  to  fill  a  large  volume  with  djcifions  of  this 
ftamp,  through  there  has  not,  perhaps,  occurred  any  tingle  cafe 
which  was,   in  ail  its  circumltauces,   h.  absolutely  infernal. 

In  this  introdu-SlionV  we  have  feen  a  iketch  of  the  hiftory  of 
ce  tain  monarchs  and  mimltcrs,  fome  of  whom  re,  at  this  day, 
held  up  as  the  political  faviou  s  of  Britain.  The  reader  may 
Compare  t'.e  wanton  (laughter  of  multitudes,  and  the  profligate 
expenditure  of  millions,  iv'i\h  the  guilt,  as  it  was  termed,  of 
Mary  Jones.  lie  will  then  judge  which  of  the  two  parties 
Left  deferred  a  ha'ter*.  This  little  narrative  may  ferve  a?  a 
Supplement  to  the  very  clear  and  learned  demonl! ration  of  Sir 
Michael  Potter. 

*Tliis  puTication  confifls  not  of  fluent  declamation,  but  of 
curious  authenticated  and  important  facts,  with  a  few  fhorf 
obfervulions   iuterfperfed,  which  feemed  r.eceilary  to   explain 

•  The  naniculais  of  this  ftory  are  eyfa'ted  fiom  a  letter  to  Charles  Jenkirjfon,  Efq. 
ftcrr-atvai  »-*r,  by  Mr.  John'  lifk,  cuaiUtoi  of  the  Caltfuoruaa  Eaxds.  1  he  letter 
< ■•  as  priii.f  A  at  Ldinbu:t'h,  in  I7S0. 


I     27     / 

them.  The  reader  will  meet  with  no  mournful  periods  to  the 
memory  of  annual  or  triennial  parliaments;  for  while  one 
half  of  the  members  are  nominated  by  the  houfe  of  peers, 
it  is  of  fmali  concern  whether  they  hold  their  places  for 
life,  or  but  for  a  tingle  clay.  Some  of  our  projectors  are  of 
opinion,  that  to  fhorten  the  duration  of  parliament,  would  be 
an  ample  remedy  for  all  our  grievances.  The  rdvantages  of 
a  popular  election  have  likewise  been  much  extolled.  Yet  an 
acquaintance  with  Thucydides,  or  Plutarch,  or  Guicciardini, 
or  Machiavel,  may  tend  to  calm  the  raptures  of  a  republican 
apcftle.  The  p!an  o^  uiiiverfal  ilirFrages  has  been  loudly 
recommended  bv  the  duke  of  Richmond  ;  and,  on  the^i6th  of 
May  1782,  that  nobleman,  feconded  by  Mr.  Ilorne  Tooke, 
and  Mr.  Pitt,  was  fitting  in  a  tavern,  comnohng  advertiie- 
ments  of  reformation  for  the  newfpapers.  The  times  are 
changed  ;  but  had  his  plan  -been  adopted,  it  is  poffible  th.at 
\ye  mould,  at  this  day,  have  looked  back,  with  regret,  on  the 
humiliating,  yet  tranquil  defpotiim  ot  a  Scots,  or  a  Cernifh 
borough. 

The  ftyle  of  this  work  is  concife  and  plain  ;  and  it  is  hoped 
that  it  wiii  be  found  furriciently  reipecrful  to  all  parties.  The 
queftion  to  be  deeded  is,  are  we  to  proceed  with  the  war  fvflem? 
Are  we,  in  the  nrogrefs  of  the  nineteenth  century,  to  embrace 
five  thoufand  freih  taxes,  to  fquander  a  iecond  five  hundred 
millions  ileribig,  and  to  extirpate  thirty  millions  of   people  ? 

Edinburgh,  14th  September,   1^2, 


THE 

POLITICAL    PROGRESS 


O     F 


BRITAIN 


C  H  A  P.      I. 

Purity  and  importance  of  Scots  reprefcntatiyes  in  parliament — ■ 
Parchment  barons — Anecdotes  of  the  Scots  exafe — Window 
tax — Ext raSls  from  an  authentic  report  to  the  lords  of  the 
treafury — Herring  fi/hery — Salt  and  coal  duties — Dreadful 
oppre]Jicn~Fate  of  Sir  John  Fcnwick — Hiftcry  of  the  ere- 
ditors  of  Charles  the  Second — Summary  of  the  public  fervices 
of  the  prince  of  Walts, 

THE  people  of  Scotland  are,  on  all  occafions,  foolifh 
enough  to  intereft  themielves  in  the  good  or  bad  fort  ire 
of  an  Englifh  prime  miniiter.  Lord  North  once  poffcfTed  this 
frivolous  veneration,  which  hath  fince  been  transferred  to  Mr, 
William  Pitt ;  and  the  Scots,  in  general,  have  long  been  re- 
marked, as  the  moll  fubmiiTive  and  contented  fubjecls  of  the 
Britifh  crown  It  is  hard  to  fay  what  obligations  have  excited 
that  univerfal  and  fuperlative  ardour  of  loyalty,  for  which,  till 
very  lately,  we  have  been  fo  ftrikingiy  diftinguifhed.  Mr. 
Brinfley  Sheridan  obferved,  fome  time  ago,  in  the  houfe  of 
commons,  that  the  Scots  nation  hath  jufl  as  much  interejl  in  the 
government  of  Britain,  as  the  miners  of  Siberia  have  in  the  go- 
vernment of  Ru/Jia.  The  affertion  was  at  once  the  molt  humi- 
liating and  well  founded.  A  public  revenue  of  eleven  hundred 
thoufand  pounds  annually  is  extracted  from  North-Britain.  Of 
this  fum,  at  leaft  fix  hundred  thoufand  pounds*  are  lodged  in 
thz  exchequer  of  England,  a  country  that  has  incelTantly,  and 
not  very   decently,  reproached  us  for  poverty.     It  is  itrange 

*  Hiftory  of  the  public  revenue,  Pa?t  III.  chap.  6.  The  f  atement  fills  four  quarts 
paces ;  it  appears  to  be  candid,  and  as  authentic  and  accurate,  as  the  nature  of  the 
materials  would  admit.  Some  years  ago,  Sir  John  Sinclair  tranfmitted  a  letter  on  this 
fubject  to  a  fociety  in  Scotland;  and  I  ha^  e  hc3rd  Scotimen,  fo  funk  in  the  mire  of 
>;ano  crian  fuperftition,  fo  degraded  below  tbt  btajlsthiit }>trijh,  as  to  ccnlure  hini  for 
preemption  in  doing  fo. 


(    29    ) 

that  fixteen  hundred  thoufand  people  ihoiild  fubir.it  to  pay  eleven 
hundred  thoufand  pounds  per  annum  to  a  government,  in  the 
direction  of  which  they  have  nothing  to  fay.  It  is  very  natural 
that  a  nation,  abforbing  fix  hundred  thoufand  pounds  a  year  of 
our  money,  fhould  be  a  great  deal  richer  than  ourfelvcs  ;  and, 
at  the  fame  time,  it  is  likewife  very  natural,  that  they  mould 
defpife  the  Scots  as  a  people,  the  mod  abject  and  contemptible 
of  the  fpecies.. 

To  Hngland  we  were,  for  many  centuries,  a  hoiiile,  and  we 
arc.ftill  confidered  by  them  as  a  foreign,  and  in  effect  a  con- 
quered nation.  It  is  true,  that  an  extremely  diminutive  part 
of  us  are  fuffered  to  elect  almcfc  every  twelfth  member  in  the 
Britifh  houfe  of  commons  ;  but  thefe  reprefentatives  have  no 
title  to  vote,  or  act.  in  a  fcparate  body.  Every  ftatute  proceeds 
upon  the  majority  of  the  voices  of  the  whole  compound  aO'em* 
bly.  What,  therefore,  can  forty-five  perlonsaccomplifh,  when 
oppofed  to  five  hundred  and  thirteen?  They  feel  the  abfoiute  in- 
fignificance  of  their  fituation,  and  behave  accordingly.  An  equal 
number  of  elbow  chairs,  placed,  once  for  all,  on  the  ministerial 
benches,  would  be  lets  expenfive  to  government,  and  jutt  about 
as  manageable.  Thefe,  and  every  minifrerial  tool  of  the  fame 
kind,  may  be  called  expenfive,  becaufe  thole  who  are  obliged 
to  buy,  mult  be  underfiood  to  Jell ,*  and  thofe  who  range  them- 
felves  under  the  banners  of  oppofition,  can  only  be  confidered, 
as  having  rated  their  voices  tco  high  for  a  purchafer  in  the  par- 
liamentary auction. 

There  is  afafhionable  phrafe,  the  politics  of  the  county,  which 
J'can  never  hear  pronounced  without  a  glow  of  indignation. 
Compared  with  fuch  politics,  even  pimping  is  refpeclable. 
Our  fupreme  court  have  indeed  interpofed,  though  very  feebly, 
to  extirpate  what  in  Scotland  are  called  parchment  barons,  and 
have  thus  prevented  a  crowd  of  unhappy  wretches  from  plung- 
ing into  an  abyls  of  perjury.  But,  in  other  refpedts,  their  de- 
cision is  of  no  confequence,  fince  it  moll  certainly  cannot  be 
of  the  imalleft  concern  to  this  country,  who  are  our  electors, 
and  reprefentatives;  or,  indeed,  whether  we  are  reprefented  at 
all.     Our  members,  with  tome  very  lingular  exceptions,  are 

*  A  icorthy  reprefentatn-e  was  requeued  bv  his  conftituents,  to  arend  to  their  in- 
tereit  in  parliament.  **  Damn  you,  and  your  inftructions  too,"  laid  he,  "  1  have 
boccht  you,  and  I  will  sell  you."     Political  Difcfiiijiiior.s,  vol.1,  p.  2S0. 

About  twenty  years  ago.  Sir  Lawrence  Lunc'as  wrote  a  letter  to  one  of  his  agents  ia 
the  Scots  boroughs,  and  enjoined  him,  at  the  approaching  election  for  parliament,  not 
to  be  outbidden.  This  epiftle  was  intercepted  by  his  opponents,  and,  if  I  miftake 
not,  printed  in  the  newspapers.  Sometime  ago,  a  perlcn  refided  at  Dumfries, 
who  fubfiued  on  a  la'.ary  of  about  fifty  pounds.  Ke  was  a  Bltttieus  voter,  and  received 
this  annuity  for  perjuring  hlmfeif  once  in  every  (even  years.  His  fituation  was  a 
common  jeft,  while  the  people  in  general  had  no  more  idea  of  the  meannefs  of  tltir 
political  condition,  than  an  equal  number  of  horfes  in  a  ftable.  E<  cry  Scotlowm  may, 
without  effort,  recoiled  zn  hundred  anecdote:  of  the  fame  nature. 


(     £     } 

the  mere  fatellitcs  of  the  minifler  of  the  day  ;.  and  forward  to 
ferve  his  moll  oppreffive  and  criminal  purpoies. 

It  feems  to  have  been  long  a  maxim  with  the  monopolizing  di- 
rectors of  our  fouthern  mailers,  to  extirpate,  as  quickly  as  pof- 
iible,  every  manufacture  in  this  country,  that  interferes  with 
their  own.  Has  any  body  forgot  the  fcandalous  breach  of  na- 
tional faith,  by  which  the  Scottilh  dill  Merits  have  been  brought 
to  the  verge  of  deft ruction ?  Has  not  the  manufacture  of  (larch 
alio  been  driven,  by  every  engine  of  judicial  torture,  to  the 
laft  pang  of  its  exigence  ?  Have  not  the  manufacturers  of  pa- 
per, printed  calicoes,  malt  liquors,  and  glafs,  been  harraifed 
by  the  moft  vexatious  methods  of  exacting  the  revenue  ?  Me- 
thods equivalent  to  an  addition  of  ten,  or  fometimes  an  hun- 
dred per  cent,  of  the  duty  payable.  Let  us  look  around  this 
infulted  country,  and  fay,  on  what  manufacture,  except  the 
linen,  taxation  has  not  fattened  its  bloody  fangs  ? 

In  the  excifc  annals  of  Scotland,  that  year  which  expired  on 
the  5th  of  July,  1790,  produced,  for  the  duties  on  foap,  fixty~ 
five  thou/and  pounds.  On  the  5th  of  July,  1791,  the  annual 
amount  of  thefe  duties  was  only  forty-five  thoufand  pounds  ; 
and  by  the  fame  hopeful  progrefs,  in  three  years  more  at  far- 
theft,  our  minifters  will  enjoy  the  pleafure  of  extirpating  a 
branch  of  trade,  once  flotiri thing  and  extenfive.  Two  men 
were,  fome  years  ago,  executed  at  Edinburgh,  for  robbing  the 
exciic-ofF.ee  of  twenty-feven  pounds  ;  but  offenders  may  be 
named,  who  ten  thoufand  times  better  deferve  puniihment. 
Oppredive  ftatutes,  and  a  mod  tyrannical  method  of  enforcing 
them,  have  thus,  in  a  fingle  year,  deprived  the  revenue  of 
twenty  thoufand  pounds,  in  one  branch  only,  and  have  com- 
pelled many  induftrious  families  to.  leek  refuge  in  England  ; 
and  then  our  legiilators,  to  borrow  the  honeft  language  of 
George  Rous,  Efq.  "  have  the  inlblence  to  call  this  govern- 

"   MENT." 

Bv  an  oriental  monopoly,  we  have  obtained  the  unexampled 
privilege  of  buying  a  pound  of  the  fame  tea,  for  fix  or  eight 
ihil lings,  with  which  other  nations  would  eagerly  fupply  us  at 
half  that  price*.  Nay,  we  have  to  t:;ank  our  prefent  iiluftri- 
ous  minifler,  that  this  vegetable  has  been  reduced  from  a  rate 
ftill  more  extravagant;  His  popularity  began  by  the  commuta- 
tion act.  Wonders  were  pro  mi  fed,  wonders  were  expected, 
an  i  wonders  have  happened!  A  nation,  confifling  of  men  who 
c  f!l  them fe Ives  enligh'encd,  have  contented  to  build  up  their 
windows,  that  they  might  enjoy  the  permidion  of  Tipping  in 
the  dark  a  cup  of  tea,  ten  per  cent,  cheaper  than  formerly  ; 
though  llill  at  double  its  intrinfic  price. 

*  Tn  Philadelphia^  tea  is  cheaper  by  one  half  than  in  Edinburgh.    .At  Gottenburgh 
a'.fo,   the  difference  in  favour  of"' the  Swedes,  is  very  great. 


•       {     3'     ) 

Such  are  the  ulorious  confequences  of  our  ftupid  veneration 
for  a  miniiter,  and  our  abiurd  iubmiflion  to  his  capricious  dic- 
tates ! 

General  uiTertions,  unfiipported  by  proper  evidence,  defcrvc 
but  little  atteution.  I  mall  therefore  lay  before  the  reader  fome 
extracts  from  a  book  publiibed  in  1786, by  Dr.  James  Anderfon. 
This  work  is  hardly  Known,  yet  every  friend  to  the  profperity 
of  Scotland  ought  to  be  intimately  acquainted  with  its  con- 
tents. 

in  17S5,  this  gentleman  was  employed,  by  the  lords  of  the 
treafury,  to  make  a  tour  anions  the  r  cbrides  and  weftem 
cbafts  of  Scotland,  for  the  purpofe  of  ascertaining  the  heft 
methods  to  promote  the  fisheries,  and  the  conlequent  improve- 
ment ot  that  part  of  the  country.  ^1  his  comrhiffiori,  Dr.  An- 
derfon  executed,  with  that' ardor  and  fidelity  of  invehigation, 
*br  which  he  has  long  been  diftinguilhed.  It  is  impoilible, 
in  a  fhort  performance  of  this  nature,  to  give  an  analyfis 
of  the  volume  ;  but  the  following  particulars  will  ferve  to 
fhew,  that  the  weften  coafts  and  the  weflern  illands  of  Scot- 
land, groan  under  the  rrtoft  enormous  oppreftion.  Dr.  An- 
dci-fon  has  printed  part  of  a  report,  dated  the  14th  of  July 
1 78^,  and  made  by  a  committee  of  the  Honfe  of  Commons. 
They  give  an  account  of  the  cuflom-houfe  duties  collected  for 
ten  fucceffive  years,  in  nine  counties  of  Scotland,  viz.  y\rgyle, 
lnvernefs,  Sutherland,  Caithness,  Orkney.  Shetland,  Crom- 
arty, Nairn  and  Mora  v.  The  expence  of  collection,  for  thefe 
ten  rears,  from  the  ift  of  January  J  775,  to  the  31ft  of  Decem- 
ber 1734,  was 

£  5 T  £79  13  s  3-4 

T  he  giols  produce  -  -  5°;7.'7     2    J   I_4 


Payment:;  exceed  the  produce  by  942    11   7  1  -2* 

The  committee  add,  that  "  they  have  little  reafon  to  expect 
V  a  more  favourable  refult  from  their  enquiries  reflecting  the 
"  excife  than  the  cultoms."  The  author  fubjoins,  that  an 
account  of  the  excife  had  fmce  been  publifhed,  and  confirtned 
the  truth,  of  this  ohfervation.  But  this  is  net  the  werft  ;  for 
there  is  likewife  to  be  added  a  part  of  the  expence  of  cVuffers 
employed  under  the  beard  of  cuftoros  in  Scotland.  On  an 
average  c(  five  years,  preceding  the  year  1783,  this  charge 
amounted  to  nine  thoufand  eight  hundred  and  feveutv-five 
pounds,  rvrely-emTI lings  and  four-pence.  "  If,"  faysDr;  Aii- 
derfori;  "  we  fuppofe  th.it  one  half  of  the  above  expence  mould 
<£  be  (idled  to  the  account  of  the  nine  counties  above  mentioned, 

*  I.-  63.     There  is  an  error  cf    :l.e  pvefs  Hi    fiihtraftfnf    &A  one 

ere  fcorre 


(     3*     ) 

u  which  I  conceive  to  be  an  under  proportion ,  then  the  expsnee 
"  on  this  head  would  be  four  thoufand,  nine  hundred  and 
"  thirty  feven  pounds,  fixteen  {hillings  and  two-pence/'* 
This  article  is  very  near  equal  to  the  whole  annual  produce  of 
the  enftoms  of  thefe  nine  counties.  If  we  take  the  different 
films  in  round  numbers,  we  may  fay,  that  the  grofs  produce  of 
l!ie  cultoms  is  five  thoufand  pounds,  the  cxpence  of  coileciing 
them  five  thoufand  pounds,  snd  the  expefice  of  cruifers,  to 
prevent  fmugg'ing,  five  thoufand  pounds.  Thus,  in  the  courfe 
of  ten  years,  government  collected  fifty  thoufand  pounds,  by 
deburfing  one  hundred  thoufand.  There  certainly  never  was 
fuch  \  ihameful  fyitem  of  robbery  heard  of,  even  in  the  annals 
of  the  Turks,  the  Spaniards,  or  the  Eritiih  Euft  India  compa- 
ny. Were  the  whole  mats  of  Britiih  taxes  collected  at  fuch 
an  expence,  the  government  itfelf,  would,  in  fix  months,  become 
bankrupt  ;  and  maids  of  honour,  and  grooms  of  the  bedcham- 
ber, and  the  whole  cloud  of  finecure  vermin,  wou!d  vanifh,  like 
the  exhalations  of  a  quagmire,  in  the  tempeft  of  revolutionary 
vengeance.  "  A  fact  of  this  nature,  when  thus  fairly  brought  to 
.V  light,  cannot  fail  to  flrike  every  thinking  perfon  with  fome 
"  degree  of  afloni'hment  and  horror.  A  croud  of  reflections 
"  here  prefs  upon  the  mind.  Why  are  thele  perfons  opprefTed 
"  with  taxes,  when  the  ftate  is  no  ways  benefitted  by  tl  em  ? 
"  Why  are  the  other  members  of  the  community  loaded  with 
"  burthens,  to  enforce  the  payment  of  thefe  unproductive  taxes 
*'  here  ?  From  what  caufe  does  it  happen  that  thefe  people 
*'  complain  of  taxes,  while  they  pay  next  to  nothing  ?"f  This 
mav  be  called  the  infanity  of  deipotifm.  I  thall  now  ftate, 
from  the  fame  work,  a  few  examples  of  the  way  in  which  this 
revenue  is  collected. 

•'  A  man  in  Skye,  who  had  got  a  load  of  bonded  fait,  v.  fed 
11  the  whole  in  curing  filh,  fave  Jive  bulhels  only,  but  before 
"  he  could  recover  his  bond,  he  found  himfelf  obliged  to  hire 
"  a  boat  and  fend  thefe  five  bulhels  to  Oban,  which  coil  him 
*'   upwards  of  five  pounds  expences.'^ 

"  One  would  imagine,  that  if  a  man  paid  the  duty  for  his 
"fait,  he  might  afterwards  do  with  it  what  he  pleafed  ;  but 
"this  I  find  is  not  the  cafe.  Laft  feafon  (1784,)  a  veflel  was 
V  fitted  out  in  hafte,  at  Aberdeen,  to  catch  herrings*  that  were 
"  then  on  the  coafts.  But  as  the  owners  of  that  vetlcl  had  no 
u  duty-free  fait,  they  were  obiiged  to  purchase  fait  that  had 
"  already  paid  the  duty  ;  but  before  they  were  allowed  to  carry 
11  one  ounce  of  this  fait  to  fea,  they  were  further  obliged  to 
"  give  bond  for  it,  in  the  fame  form  as  if  it  had  been  duty-free 
"  falt."H 

*  ImwxfnfVien,  page  65.  JReport  p.     4*. 

i  Ibid  p.  63.  U  ibid   p.    i'u 


(     33     ) 

"  Again,  in  the  year  17S3,  Mr.  James  McDonald,  in  Por- 
**  tree,  in  Skye,  purchafed  from  Leith,a  quantity  of  iait,  which 
"  bad  paid  duty,  and  (hipped  it  by  permit  on  board  a  veiTel  for 
ft  Portree.  It  was  regularly  landed,  and  a  cuitom-houfe  cer- 
'/  tificatc  returned  for  the  fame.  With  this  fait  he  intended  to 
"  cure  fiih,  when  he  could  catch  them  in  thofe  leas  ;  but  not 
"  having  found  an  opportunity  of  ufiag  it  in  the  year  1784,  he 
*f  fitted  out,  at  his  own  expence,  this  feaion  ( 1 785,^  a  imail 
"  lloop,  to  profecute  the  tilheries.  On  board  that  ilcop,  he 
"  put  fome  part  of  this  fait  with  the  permit  along  with  it. 
"  A  revenue  cutter  fell  in  with  his  veilel,  and  fazed  veffel  and 
"  fait,  provifiuns  and  all  together!'"* 

There  i^  an  excife  duty  upon  foreign  fait,  imported  into  the 
Wuicerri  Iilancls,  of  ten  (hillings  per  buihel,  befides  3  cuftom- 
houfe  tax  of  about  two  pence  three  farthings. f  The  excife  duty 
is  too  high  to  be  paid  for  fait  employed  m  the  curing  of  hTn. 
(Government,  therefore,  in  order  to  encourage  the  Britiih  fifh- 
eries,  has  promifed  to  remit  the  excife  duty.  But  k  is  pollible 
that  die  fait  thus  difburdened  of  the  ten  fh  lhngs  of  excife,  might 
be  applied  to  fome  other  purpofe  than  that  of  curing  ilih,  and 
in  this  way,  the  intended  bounty  might  be  converted  into  a 
fource  of  fraud  agairfft  the  excife  revenue.  When  the  legislature, 
therefore,  granted  this  indulgence,  V  all  importers  of  foreign 
"  fait  v/ere  required  firft  to  land  it  at  a  cuitom-houfe,  where  .r 
"  was  to  be  carefully  weighed  by  the  proper  oiricers,  and  the 
«'  importer  either  to  pay  the  duty,  or  to  enter  it  for  the  purpofe 
"  of  curing  jift))  and  in  that  cafe,  to  give  bond,  with  two  fuiti- 
"  cient  fiueties,  either  to  pay  the  excLe  duty  of  ten  (hillings 
"per  buihel,  or  to  account  for  the  fait ,  under  a  penalty  of  twentv 
"  millings  per  buihel.  In  confequence  of  th;s  bond,  he  mult 
"  either  produce  the  fait  itfeljrat  that  cufiom-houfe  on  or  before  the 
"  5th  of  April  thereafter,  or  cured  nih  in  fuch  quantities  as 
"  are  fuincien:  to  exhaufl  the  whole  (alt,  which  hih,  he  is  obliged 
"  to  declare  upon  oath  were  cured  with  the  fait  for  which  he 
'<  had  granted  bond.  It  is  only  after  all  thefe  forms,  ana \ fever al 
"  others  are  duly  complied  with,  that  the  bond  can  be  got  up  , 
"  and  thefe  bonds  if  not  cancelled  before  they  fall  due,  mult  be 
**  regularly  returned  to  the  commiilioners  of  fait  duties,  by 
"  whom  an  action  muft  be  injtantly  commenced  in  the  court  of 
u  exchequer,  for  recovery  of  the  penalties  incurred  in  the  bonds. 
"  If  any  of  this  fait  remains  unufed,  a  new  bond  on  the  fame 
"  terms,  mutt  be  granted  for  it,  however  fmall  the  quantity 
"  may  be,  nor  can  that  fait  be  moved  from  the  place  where  it 
"  is  once  lodged^  without  an  exprefs  warrant  from  the  cuftom- 

*  Report  p.    4T. 

f  On  ^cots  fait,  the  duty  is  one  lhillingand  fix  pence  per  bufhel,  on  forei^a 
fait  ten  iLHlingB.  The  latter  is  chieflv  confumod  by  the  bufles. 

E 


(     34     ) 

"  houfe,  and  another  bond  granted  by  the  proprietor,  fpecifyitig, 
f%  und: r  heavy  penalties,  wbere  it  is  to  be  landed  •,  which  bond 
"  can  only  be  withdrawn  in  corifequence  of  a  certificate  fron 
«<  the  cuilom-houfe  fpecifynng  that  it  was  there  lodged.  Nor 
"  can  it  be  (hifred  from  one  veffel  to  another,  did  both  veffels 
u  even  belong  to  the  fame  per  [on  3  without  an  order  from  the  cuf- 
M  tom-houfe,  and.  a  new  bond  granted  ;  nor  can  a  tingle  bufliel 
*  of  that  fait,  in  any  ciicumitance,  be  fold  without  a  new  bond 
"  being  granted  for  it,  and  a  transfer  of  that  quantity  being 
"'  made  in  the  cuflom-houfe  books."*  This  paflage  paints,  in 
finking  colour.",  the  gloomy  and  ferocious  jealoufv  of  EngHlh 
defpotijfm.  An  eternal  repet  tion  of  the  word  bond,  may  allure 
u>,  that  tie  acl  of  parliament  has  been  dictated  by  the  very  ge- 
nius of  Shylock.  Thefe  regulations  are  attended  with  fo  much 
expence,  and  intricacy,  and  fo  great  a  hazard  of  ruinous  penal- 
ties, that,  in  many  cafes,  they  correfpond  trf&H  abfolute  prohi- 
bition. In  England,  a  fifherman  grants  bond  but  once  ;f  a  dif- 
tmclion  that  afcertains  the  pitiful  malevolence  of  our  Jijhr 
kingdom.  To  give  a  proper  comprehenfion  of  all  the  clogs 
w;lE  which  the  Scots  fliheries,  and  they  only  are  burdem  d,  would 
require  fcveral  meets  of  pv.per.  A  few  particulars  may  ferve 
at  prcfent,  as  a  fpecimen  of  the  reft. 

"  If  a  veflel  containing  fait  is  loft  at  fea,  or  at  the  fifhing,  proof 
"  mud  be  ma^Je  of  its  beingfo  loll, before  the  fait  bond  can  be  re- 
"  covered  ;  and  in  forhe  cafes,  the  commimoncr$  are  fo  fcru- 
"  pulous  with  rerpe<?c  to  this  proof,  as  to  render  it  next  to 
"  impeiTible  to  recover  the  bond,  or  avoid  the  penalty  it  con- 
"  tains. "J  Thefe  bonds  cod,  each  of  them,  h\cn  (hillings  and 
fix  pence.  As  an  inftance  of  the  rigour  cf  the  commilhoners. 
Dr.   Anderibn  tells  the  following  (lory. 

A  buis  on  the  fifliing  (lation  was  call  away.  The  mailer 
went  to  a  juflice  of  peace  in  the  neighbourhood,  and  made 
oath  to  the  lofs  of  his  vcfiel,  with  the  fait,  Sec.  on  board,  but 
nA  having faved  his  paptrS)  he  committed  a  miflakeof  five  or  fix 
buihels  in  Hating  the  quantity  of  fait.  His  depofition,  ngued 
by  the  juflice,  was  tranimitted  to  the  commifTioners,  for  reco- 
very of  the  fait  bond.  On  account  cf  tbe  error,  it  was  returned, 
to  be  altered.  The  man  then  went  before  two  juflices,  and  made 
oath  to  the  exact  quantity'.  This  depofition  was  tranfmitted  ; 
bur  returned  again  as  infurricient,  for  the  law  requires  that  it 
mould  be  made  before  a  quorum  of  juflices  at  their  quarter 
fejftons.  By  this  time,  the  ihip-mafter  had  gone  to  fea  to  the 
filhery.  Dr.   Anderfon  adds,  that  it  was  a  tBoufand  to  bti£  if  he 


*  Report  bv  Dr.  Anderfon,  page  $.C. 
f  llluftrations  of  the  report,  pa:-icj  1; 
J  Ibid,  p,  1  ;4. 


(    35    ) 

had  not  either  to  pay  the  penalty  of  his  bond,  or  lofe  a  leafori 
of  the  fifhing  ;  as  he  could  not,  when  at  fea,  be  certain  of  at- 
tending at  theprecife  day  of  the  quarter  fefhons.*  Such  is  the 
treatment  of  a  shipwrecked  mariner  from  Scots  commiiuoners 
of  fall  duties  !  When  thi>  tranfacYion  happened.,  the  fympathetic 
Dr.  Adam  'Smith  was  a  me  nber  of  that  qui nturnv irate,  who 
fway  the  feeptre  of  fait  excile  in  North-Britain. 

u  No  vcfTel  can  lend  or  give  fait  to  any  other  at  the  rlfhing  or 
w  Otherwife,  even  though  belonging  to  the  fame  own  rs,  becaufe  the 
iC  quantity  (hipped  per  cooquet  in  anv  veiTel  mutt  be  regularly 
"  landed  at  fome  cuitom-houie  or  other,  either  in  fifh  or  not  ufed  ; 
{i  and  if  it  muit  bef-nt,  muft  be  fo  landed  and  bonded,  and  again 
6(  fhipped  per  cocquet  anew.  If  hnt  otherwife,  the  fait  and  vef- 
<:  fel  are  feizabh."f  This  author  obferves,  that  a  bare  lift  of  the 
profecutions,  which  have  been  raifed  in  Scotland,  on  account  of 
the  fait  tax,,  would  excite  horror.  The  moft  trifling  miftake,  in 
point  of  form,  is  fufficient  for  reducing  an  induftrious  family 
to  beggary;  yet  in  England,  when  the  committee  of  fiiheries  re- 
quired a  lift  of  the  prosecutions  that  had  been  raifed  in  that  coun- 
try fince  the  inftitution  of  this  law,  the  return  was  only  ON':.i 

In  c'onfequence  of  fo  harm  a  fyltem,  fait  is  fmuggled  in  im- 
menfe  quantities  from  Ireland,  where  the  duty  is  but  three-pence 
per  bumel.  A  perfon  conferled,  that,  in  a  lingle  year,  he  im- 
ported into  one  of  the  weftern  iflands,  nine  hundred  and feventy 
tons  of  fait,  which  are  >"Cjual  to  thirty-eight  thoufatid  eight  hun- 
dred and  ninety  bufhels.  Several  other  people  in  the  fame  inane! 
followed  that  trade. §  If  the  formalities  on  the  remii'hon  of  fait 
duties,  did  not  defeat  the  whole  intention  of  the  law,  there  could 
be  no  temptation  to  this  traffic.  Dr.  Anderfon  ailirms,  as  a  cer- 
tain fact,  that  five  hundred  thoufand people  in  Scotland  ufe  no  fait 
but  that  of  Ireland.  He  tells  us  alio,  on  the  fubject  of  cuitom- 
houfe  duties,  in  general,  that  he  once  paid  thirteen  millings  for 
leave  to  fend  coaft-wavs  forty  millings  worth  of  oat-meal. || 
Though  the  cuftoms,  in  the  nine  molt  northern  counties  of 
Scotland,  cannot  defray  the  expence  of  collecting  them,  yet  they 
are  in  themfelves,  very  exorbitant,  when  compared  with  the  va- 
lue of  the  commodities  on  which  they  are  paid.  Bonds,  certi- 
ficates,and  other  tram  of  thatkind,coft  as  much  on  a  fmallcargo, 
as  oil  a  large  one.  Dr.  Anderfon  was  allured,  thatin  the  Hebrides 
*  the  expence  of  the  cuftom-houfe  officer  to  difcharge  a  cargo 
u  of  coals,  amounts,  in  many  cafes,  to  more  than  four  times  the 
"  duty  on  ihe  coals  >  and  if  the  cargo  bejmdll,  it  will  fometimes 
"  double  ihe  prime  cjjt"%  The  officer  is  to  be  brought  from  a 
diftance  of  perhaps  thirty  miles,  at  an  expence  which  the  par- 

*  Illuflrations  of  the  report,  page  175. 

f  Ibid  p.  1-6.  \  Ibid,  p.  191.  §  Report,  pag  •  47. 

i|   Introduction,  p.  67.  C  Ilmi,  p.  3i. 


(     3«     ) 

ties  mud  always  defray  out  of  their  own  pocket".  This  infor- 
mation explains  another  of  his  afiertions,  that  thofe  poor  people, 
loots  Highlanders,  "  pay  at  lead //W  hundred  per  cent,  more 
(f  than  die  merchants  in  London,  Liverpool,  or  Briitol,  would 
"  have       id  for  the  fame  goods."  »j 

The   i        €t  of  the  Scots   fifheries  has   already  extended  to 

all  be  relumed  and  doled  in  the  next  chapter. 

For  the  fake  oi  •  ;riety,  and  as   a   relief  to   the  feelings  of  the 

reader,  Ictus,  ic  prefent,  make  a  fhort  excurfion  into  the 

<-f  legiflative  iniquity. 

Some  people  are  m  the  habit  of  revering  an  act  of  parliament, 
as  though  it  were  the  production  of  a  fuperior  being.  To  this 
cjaj's  of  readers  may  be  recommended  a  perufal  of  the  follow- 
in^  dote.  In  fummer   1789,  when  the  bill  for  an  excite  on 
the  n  re  of  tobacco,  was  brought  up  to  the  houfe  of 
peers,  th .  CI  ancellor  Thurlow  "  treated  the  enacting  part 
"  of  it  with  a  .  ree  of  mixed  afperity  and  contempt.  He 
cc  faid,  that  the  vexatious  precautions  and  preventive  fecurity 
"  of  the  excife  laws,  were  unnecejfarily\  extended  to  the  fubject 
"  in  queftion  ;  that  a    fit  attention  had  not  been  paid  to  the 
"  ejfential  interefts  end  property  of  the  manujacturcrs  ;   that  the 
«  greater  part  of  the  enacting  claufes  were  abfurd,  contrail 'iclory, 
«5  ungrammatical)  and  unintelligible  !    He  expreifed   his  widies, 
'.<  that   the  houfe  of  commons,  if  they  meant  to  perfevere  in 
"  their   claim  of  having  money  bills  returned  from   the  houfe 
"  of  peers  unaltered,  would  not  infult  them,  by  requiring  their 
"  adoption  of  laws  that  would  difgrace  fchool  boys."%  He  accord- 
ingly moved  for  an  amendment,  which  was  rejected  by  a  majo- 
rity of  ten  voices  againftyWvw.   So  notably  nras  the  bttfinefs 
nation  attended  !  The  houfe  of  peers  confided  at  that  time,  in- 
cluding biinops,  of  about  two  hundred  and  fifty-nine  1 
fo  that  this  was  juft  like  one  juryman  prefuming  to  do  the  0 
of  fifteen.  The  bill  however  had  been  fo  wretchedly  condruct- 
ed,  that  an  alteration  appearing  absolutely  neceiTary,  was  urged 
a  Cecond  time  by   the  Duke   of  Richmond   and  carried.  But 
before  this  could  be   accomplished,  the  parliament  were  juit 
rifmg.    The  houfe  of  commons  had  not  time  to  think  of  their 
pretended   condiments.  The  alterations   were  fuppreffed,  and 
the  bili,  with  all  its  imperfections  on  its  head,  was  difcharged 
on  the  devoted  tohacconids  of  Britain.  If  that  parliament  had 
been  feleeted  from  the  cells  of  Newgate,  they  could  not  have 
acted,  in  this  affair,  with  a  more  atrocious  contempt  for   every 
part  of  their  duty. 

§  Introduction  p.  66. 

||  This  exprellion  intimates,  that  in  the  opinion  of  Thurlow,  tobacco  is  an 
improper  object  of  excife.  He  was  in  the  right ;  for  the  tax  produced  a  fceae 
of  ftupendous  injuftice.  A  full  account  of  it  fliall  be  given  hereafter. 

^  Dodflcy's  Annual  Remitter,  for  1789,  p.  157. 


(     37     ) 

There  is  no  greater  abfurdity  in  what  is  called  our  eonftitu- 
tion  than  this,  that  the  mere  ihreds  and  ballad  of  a  Britiln  par- 
liament have  often  executed,  or  betrayed  its  molt  important 
duties.  The  houfe  of  commons  confilts  of  five  hundred  and  fif- 
;ht  perfons,  including  the  forty-five  make-weight  Scots 
members.  Of  all  thefe,  forty  form  a  quorum,  and  an  hundred, 
or  even  fifty  or  fixty,  have  frequently  tranfacled  the  moft  in- 
terefting  affairs.  In  the  new  constitution  of  the  united  dates  of 
■America,  a  very  obvious  and  a  very  effectual  remedy  has  been 
provided  againft  this  abufe.  By  the  fifth  fection  of  the  firit  arti- 
cle, it  is  enacted,  that  "  a  majority  of  each  houfe  fhall  conititute 
<«  a  quorum  to  do  bufinefs."  The  conltitution  of  America  is  not 
like  ours,  a  dream  floating  through  the  libraries  of  lawyers,  and 
the  imaginations  of  unprincipled  place-hunters.  It  has  been  re- 
duced to  an  inltrument  of  only  ten  or  fifteen  pages,  compofed  by 
men  of  fenfe,  and  on  a  fubject  which  they  had  ftudied  and  di- 
gested. We  return  to  the  Mhieen  of  Ifles. 

In  the  reign  of  William  the  third,  one  Tilly  obtained  an  act 
of  parliament  to  enable  Bromfhill,  an  infant,  to  fell  his  intereit 
in  the  Fleet  prifon  ;  which  intereit  was  purcha fed  by  Tilly.  A 
report  was  fometime  after  made  in  the  houfe  of  commons,  which 
contains  thefe  words.  "  Mr.  Pocklingtcn,  from  the  committee 
"  on  the  abufes  of  prifons,  &c.  among  a  variety  of  other  matter, 
"  reported  to  the  houfe,  that  one  Brunfhill,  a  folicitor,  had  in- 
i(  formed  the  faid  committee,  that  Tilly,  as  he  was  informed, 
"  ihould  fay,  that  he  obtained  that  act  by  bribery  and  corruption. 

"  That  one  Mrs. Hancock  applying  to  Tilly  not  to  protect  one 
<c  Guy,  being  his  clerk  of  the  papers,  becauie  he  was  perjured, 
"  &c.  Tilly  refufed  her  requeft ;  upon  which,  being  aiked  how 
"  he  would  do,  if  the  matter  fhould  be  laid  before  parliament  ? 
"  he  replied,  he  could  do  what  he  would  there;  that  they  were  a 
ci  company  of  bribed  villains ;  that  to  his  knowledge,  they  would 
ic  all  take  bribes ;  and  that  it  coft  him  three  hundred  pounds  for 
*'  his  fhare,  and  three  hundred  pounds  for  the  other  (hop,  mean- 
"  ing  the  King's  Bench,  for  bribing  a  committee  lafi  parliament. 

"  That  fhe  then  intimated  that  (lie  muft  then  apply  to  the 
"  houfe  of  lords  ;  he  anfwered,  it  was  only  palming  five  or  fix 
"  t&Iking  lords,  and  they  would  quafTiall  the  relt.  And  fhe  then 
"  laid,  fhe  would  try  the  king  and  council  -,  he  added,  the  beit 
«  of  the  lord-keeper's  fees  were  from  hint;  that  as  to  the  judges, 
"  they  were  all  fuch  a  parcel  of  rogues,  that  they  would /wallow 
«  his  gold  falter  than  he  would  give  it  them  ;  and  that  as  to  the 
"  members  of  the  houfe  of  commons,  they  were  many  of  them 
"  members  of  his  houfe."  *  This  picture  fcems  unfavourable;  but 
the  parliaments  of  William  the  third  were  chiefly  compofed  of 

*  Oa  the  v.fe  and  abufe  of  parliaments,  vol.  I.  p.  126, 


(     38     ) 

/ 

very  exceptionable  characters.  An  example  or  two  as  to  their 
general  conduct  may  ferve  at  prefent. 

In  1694,  William  planned  an  expedition  asainft  Breft.  Trie 
particulars  were  betrayed  to  James  the  leeond,  by  letters  foam 
England.  In  confequeuee  of  this  intelligence,  the  French  pre- 
pared for  the  reception  of  their  aflailants.  A  body  of  Englifh  land 
forces  were  difembarked  at  Breft.  They  perceived  fuch  formi- 
dable entrenchments,  and  batteries,  that  they  attempted  to  re- 
treat on  board  their  ihips.  But  the  tide  had  gone  out-,  the  flat 
bottomed  boats  were  entangled  in  the  mud-,  and  the  French, 
with  fuperior  forces,  poured  from  every  fide  upon  the  fugitives. 
Six  hundred  of  thofe  who  landed  were  ilain,  and  many  wound- 
ed ;  one  Dutch  frigate  was  funk,  after  lofing  almoit  her  whole 
en  w.  General  Talmarib,  commander  in  the  expedition,  died  of 
his  wounds  at  Plymouth.  Sir  John  Dalrymple,  in  attempting  to 
cleferibe  the  particulars  of  this  tranfaclion,  feems  to  labour  un- 
der an  idea  of  guilt  and  infamy,  which  the  weaknefs  of  human 
language  is  incapable  of  expreuing.  He  fays,  that  the  "  intention 
u  was  betrayed  to  the  late  king,  by  intelligenee  in  the  fpring  from 
<4  Lord  Godolphin,  flrft  Lord  of  the  Treafurv,  and  afterwards 
"  by  a  letter  from  Lord  Marlborough,  eldeft  lieutenant-general 
"  in  the  fervice,  of  date  the  4th  of  May,  in  the  fame  way  as 
"  a  project  againft  Toulon  was  betrayed  twy  years  after-wards 
«'  by  Lord  Sunderland"*  The  letter  trom  Marlborough  was 
transmitted  to  France  bySackfleld,  aBritifh  major-general.  A  co- 
py of  it  has  been  publilhed  by  Mr!  Macnherfon./f  In  this  epiftle, 
Thorough  complains,  that  Ruflel,  though  he  knew  the  plan, 
always  denied  it.  *«  This,"  faid  he,  "  gives  me  a  bad  fign  of  this 
"  man's  intentions."  His  fears  were  groundlefs,  for  Ruflel  hifti- 
felf  was  in  a  private  ccrrefpondence  with  James,  who  had  given 
inftructions  "  to  him,  the  Duke  of  Leeds,  the  Lords  Shrewf- 
*'  bury,  Godolphin  and  Marlborqugh,  and  others,  to  create  de- 
«  lays  in  the  fitting  out  of  the  fleet."!  Talmarih,  orTalmaehc, 
for  his  name  is  differently  fpelt,  had  himielf  once  been  in  pri- 
vate connections  with  the  friends  of  James,  and  when  dyi 
complained,  that  he  had  fallen  by  the  treachery  of  his  country- 
men. ||  The  facts  itated  in  this  narrative  are  authenticated  by  the 
correlpondence  oi  the  parties,  which  is  ftill  extant  in  the  . 
writings  of  feme  of  themfelves.§  Ruflel  "  and  others,"  might 
as  well  have  cut  the  throats  of  Talraache  and  his  men,  in  Smith- 
field  market.  About  the  end  of  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne,  Har- 

*  Memoirs  of  Great-Britain  and  Ireland,  Part  in.  Book  3d. 
I  State.  Papers,  quartp  edition,  vol,  1.  page  487. 
;  Memoirs  of.  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  Part  hi.  Book  p,d. 
:  Ibid. 

§  The  inUru&ions  by  James  about  retarding  the  expedition  to  Breft,  arc  pub' 
Jiibed  by  Mr.  Maepherfon  in  his  Staix  Papers,  vol.  1.  p.  456. 


(     39    ) 

ley,  Earl  o£  Oxford,  found  it  convenient  to  pretend  an  attach- 
ment to  tlfe  family  of  Stuart.  He  obtained  the  original  letter 
from  Matlbororgh  to  James  the  fecohd  ;  and  as  the  Duke  had 
be^un  to  be  troublefome,  rlarl.y  gave  him  notice  that  this  let- 
ter had  been  procured,  and  canfequently  that  his  life  was  in  dan- 
ger. The  Duke  immediately  retired  from  England;.  *  His  ihare 
in  betraying  the  Breii  expedition  is  lefs  criminal  than  a  practice 
urged  againft  him  by  EarlPawiet,  who  once  told  him  to  hi, 
in  the  houfe  of  peers,  u  that  he  facrineed  his  ameers  in  deiV»_- 
"  rate  aflaults,  far  the  fake  of 'felling  their  cammijjiom  .r 'f  This  wai 
the  great  Dake  of  A.arlborongh,  for  fuch  we  continue  to  call 
him.  In  the  landing  of  the  Britifh  troops  at  Breit,  t!ie  Marquis 
of  Carmarthen  behaved  with  great  bravery,  while  his  own  fa- 
ther, Lord  Caermarthen,  was  along  with  Ruliel  and  Co.  betray- 
ing the  country. 

The  following  detail  exhibits  perfidy  oi  a  different  ipecics,  In 
iOqo',  the  public  credit  of  England  had  funk  very  greatly.  To 
relieve  it,  parliament,  by  the  periuafion  of  Mr.  Montague,  chan- 
cellor of  the  exchequer,  permitted  him  to  iilue  exchequer  bills 
to  the  extent  of  two  millions  and  feven  hundred  thoufaud  pounds. 
To  encourage  the  currency  of  thefe  bills,  "  it  had  been  provid- 
"  ed,  that  from  the  date  of  their  being  paid  upon  taxes  into  the 
a  exchequer,  they  mould  be  entitled  to  itven  and  an  half  per 
U  cent.  oH  intered."  t  The  legal  intereit  of  money  was  that  time. 
fix  per  cent.  To  raife  the  intereit  of  a  bill  by  one  and  an  half,  it 
was  only  requifue  that  he  holder  lliould  indorfe  it  to  fome  friend, 
who  would  pre  lent  it  at  a  cultom-houfe  or  excife  office,  and  then, 
through  its  merit  in  having  circulated,  the  next  indorfee,  who 
•accepted  it  from  the  exchequer  was  entitled,  initead  of  fix,  to 
the  feven  and  an  half  per  cent,  of  intereit.  This  appears  to  have 
been  the  fcope  of  the  fcheme.  The  procefs  was  plain  and  pro- 
fitable ;  and  if  Montague  had  been  ambitious  of  transforming 
the  whole  Britim  nation  into  paper-jobbers,  he  could  not  have 
devifed  a  more  dexterous  expedient.  We  may  be  quite  certain 
that  every  bill,  when  firit  iffued  from  the  exchequer,  would  re 
turn  with  the  velocity  of  lightning.  But  the  moic  beautiful  part 
of  the  tranfaetion  is  vet  in  referve,  u  Mr.  Duneombe,  and  Mr. 
"  Knight.  Receiver-General  of  the  Excife,  both  members  of 
"  the  houfey  and  others  like  them,  oiEcers  of  the  revenue,  put 
"  falfe  endorfements  on  many  of  the  bills  before  they  had  been 
M  circulated  at  ah  \  by  which  Duneombe  acquired  a  fortune  of 
"  four  hundred  t'houfand  pound: ."  \  The  fum  is  either  exaggerated, 
or  the  value  of  the  exchequer  bills  mult  have  exceeded  two  mil 

*  Memoirs  of  Great-Bfijtain  and  Ireland,  Part  m.  Book  3d. 
f  Smollet's  Hiftory  of  QueeiiAiine. 

\  Memoirs  of.  <*ieat-Brkain  and  Uelaud,  Part  m.  Bwc/icj. 
|i  Ibid. 


(     40     ) 

lions  and  feven  hundred  thoufand  pounds,  for  even  on  the  ivhcle 
of  the  latter  fum,  a  profit  of  one  and  an  half  per  cent,  comes 
only  to  forty  thoufand  five  hundred  pounds.  Perhaps  Duncombe 
and  his  affociates  had  been  guilty  of  other  practices  of  the  fame 
kind,  and  his  fhare  of  the  total  plunder  may  have  amounted  to 
four  hundred  thoufand  pounds.  "  It  was  proved  that  he  had 
*<  owned  the  truth  of  the  complaint.  (A  very  gentle  hind  of  term 
"  for  forgery.)  They  (Knight  and  Duncombe)  were  both  ex- 
(C  pelled  the  houfe,  and  a  bill  palled  the  commons  to  line  Mr- 
"  Duncombe  (in)  half  his  eftate;  but  it  was  rejected  in  the  houfe 
*<  of  lords  by  the  calling  vote  of  the  Duke  of  Leeds."  About 
two  years  before,  this  ineitimable  peer  had  been  impeached  by 
the  houfe  of  commons  for  receiving,  from  the  governors  of  the 
Eaft-India  company,  a  bribe  of  five  thoufand  guineas.  This  mo- 
ney had  been  kept  for  about  a  year  and  an  half*,  and,  according 
to  evidence,  delivered  at  the  bar  of  the  houfe,  it  was  then  return- 
ed to  the  witneis,  "  becaufe  the  Duke's  fervant's  getting  ir  was 
«  making  a  noife"*  This  nobleman  was  at  that  very  time  lord  pre- 
sident of  his  majefty's  moil  honourable  privy  council,  and  be- 
traying to  James  the  fecond  the  project  of  the  Brelt  expedition. 
We  need  not  then  fcruple  much  to  believe  Sir  John  Dalrymple, 
when  he  fays,  that,  in  the  cafe  of  Duncombe,  "private  money 
"  was  fufpec~ted  to  have  had  influence  with  a  number  of  the 
**  peers."  Lord  Chefterfield  had  feme  reafon  for  terming  that 
houfe  an  hofpital  of  incurables-  By  the  ftatute  law  of  England, 
Duncombe j  and  all  his  confederates,  ought  to  have  fullered 
death  •,  but  it  is  difficult  to  hang  a  man  with  four  hundred  thou- 
fand pounds  in  his  pocket. 

In  1695,  Sir  John  Fenwick,  a  major-general,  had  been  en- 
gaged with  fome  others,  in  a  project  for  a  rebellion  in  England, 
and  had,  on  its  difcovery,  fled.  Some  time  after  he  returned,  was 
found  out,  and  arretted.  To  fave  his  life,  he  transmitted  to 
William  an  account  of  the  treasonable  correfpondence  of  Go- 
dolphin,  Marlborough,  Rufiel,  and  other  tuhigs  of  dijiinclion 
with  James.  His  accuiation  "  is  now  known  to  have  been  in  all 
*'  points  true"  and  as  there  was  only  one  evidence  againit  him, 
of  his  lhare  in  the  confpiracy,  "  he  could  not  be  convicted  in  a 
f1  court  of  law,  which  required  fws"  William  was  thoroughly 
acquainted  with  the  real  character  of  the  perfons  thus  accufed  by 
Fenwick  ;  but  he  durft  not  come  to  an  open  rupture  with  fuch 
powerful  offenders.  The  charge  was  therefore  fmothered  ;  but 
the  perfons,  whom  Fenwick  had  accufed,  "  believed  that  they 
"  could  not  be  fafe  as  long  as  he  lived"  A  bill  of  attainder  was 
therefore  brought  into  parliament  againft  him,  and  his  late  friend 
Rufiel  appeared  at  the  head  of  the  profecution.  The  bill  paft 

*  Memoirs  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  Part  hi.  Book  3. 


(     41      ) 

through  the  houfe  of  commons  by  an  hundred  and  eighty-nine 
voices  againft  ap  hundred  and  fii'ty-fix.  In  the  upper  houfc,  it 
had  only  a  majority  of  ieven.  Gilbert  Burnet,  that  right  reve- 
rend father  in  God,  by  a  long  fpeech,  "  exhausted  all  the  chica- 
"  nery  of  the  law,  and  all  the  hypocrify  of  the  church,  to  vindi- 
"  cate  proceedings.,  which  exceeded  the  injuftice  of  the  worft 
«  precedents  of  Charles  the  fecond,  and  his  fucceflbr-  But  by 
M  a  mixture  of  vanity  and  fhame,  although  he  inferted  the  fpeech 
<c  in  his  hiilory,  he  did  not  avow  that  he  was  the  perfon  who 
«  made  it."  On  the  28th  of  January,  1696,  Sir  John  Fenwick. 
was,  "  without  evidence  or  law"  beheaded  on  Tower-Hill.  Lady 
Fenwick  having  feared  the  testimony  of  a  perfon,  fhe  attempt- 
ed to  bribe  him  to  fly  the  kingdom.  The  accufers  directed  this 
wretch  to  place  people  behind  a  curtain  to  overhear  the  offer ; 
«  and  this  attempt  of  a  wife  to  fave  her  huiband's  life  from  dan- 
**  ger,  was,  turned  into  an  evidence  of  his  guilt"*  Thefe  are  the 
words  of  an  hiitorian,  who  is  himfelf  a  profefTed  whig,  who  has 
been  a  lawyer,  and  is  now  a  judge.  It  appears,  therefore,  that 
in  the  clofe  of  the  lafl  century,  the  majority  of  a  Britifh  parlia- 
ment committed  a  deliberate  murther  ;  and  that  they  did  lb  un- 
der the  pretence  of  punifliing  a  confpirator,  while,  at  the  fame 
time,  a  confiderable  number  of  themfelves  were  partners  in  his 
guilt.  Contrafted  with  fo  black  a  fcene,  there  is  nothing  remark- 
able in  the  ruin  of  Britifh  tobacconifts,  or  in  the  accufation  fo 
bluntly  advanced  by  the  keeper  of  the  Fleet-prifon.  The  king 
himfelf,  when  he  confented  to  this  bill,  muft  have  been  altoge- 
ther confeious  of  its  criminality  ;  but  fpecks  of  that  kind  cannot 
tarnifh  the  purity  of  fo  luminous  a  character. 

Since  the  Norman  conqueft,  England  has  been  governed,  in- 
cluding Oliver  Cromwell,  by  thirty-three  fovereigns ;  and  of 
thefe,  two-thirds  were,  each  of  them,  by  an  hundred  different 
actions,  deferving  of  the  gibbet.f  Yet  the  people,  over  whom 
they  ruled,  feem  to  have  been,  for  the  moil  part,  quite  worthy 
of  fuch  mailers,  and  to  have  been  as  perfectly  diverted  of  every 
honourable  feeling,  as  majefty  itfelf.  In  evidence  of  this  truth,  let 
us  examine  the  hiilory  of  a  circumflance  in  the  reign  of  Charles 
the  fecond,  that  provoked  more  than  ufual  indignation.  At  that 
time,  there  exilled  no  national  debt ;  but  when  the  parliament 
had  voted  iupplies,  it  was  common  for  bankers,  and  wealthy  in- 
dividuals, to  advance  money  to  the  exchequer,  on  the  faith  of 

*  Memoirs  of  Great-Britain  and  Ireland,  Part  111.  Book  -. 

f  Edward  II.  Richard  II.  and  Henry  VI.  appear  to  have  been  peaceable  men. 
They- were  all  murdered.  Edward  Vrh  is  luppofed,  when  a  boy,  to  have  fhared 
the  iame  fate.  Of  Edward  VI.  the  exit  is  not  free  from  luipicion.  Queen  Anne 
was,  upon  the  whole,  a  harmlefs  woman  ,  and  every  Engliihman  acknowledges 
with  gratitude  and  with  pride,  that  the  virtues  of  the  houfe  of  Brunfwick  tran- 
fcend  all  praile. 


(     4*     ) 

repayment,  when  the  produce  of  the  grants  thus  voted  came  in- 
to the  public  treafury.  On  the  ad  of  January,  1672,  the  exche- 
quer was  indebted  to  the  bankers  and  others  in  the  amount  of 
one  million,  three  hundred  and  twenty-eight  thoufand,  five 
hundred  and  twenty-fix  pounds  j  and  on  this  day,  Charles  fuf- 
pended  payment.  A  bankruptcy,  for  ten  times  that  ftim,  would 
not  affeel:,  with  an  equal  degree  of  ruin,  the  prefent  commerce  of 
England.  The  king,  however,  charged  his  hereditary  revenue 
with  the  legal  intereft  of  this  fum  at  fix  per  cent,  and  this  was 
Ticlually  and  regularly  paid,  till  about  a  year  before  his  death, 
when  it  was  flopped.  As  he  advanced  the  intereft  with  punc- 
tuality for  fo  long  a  time,  we  may  candidly  judge  that  his  failure 
in  the  end  arofe  from  necefnty.  Sir  John  Sinclair  fays,  that  the 
{hutting  up  of  the  exchequer  "will  for  ever  ftamp  the  character  of 
w  Charles  the  fecond with  the  mofl  indelible  infamy."*  His  character 
was,  upon  a  thoufand  other  emergencies,  fo  completely  Jla??!ped, 
that  any  fingle  crime  could  have  added  little  to  the  accempt.  But 
the  point  in  queftion  is  to  prove,  that  in  this  very  affair,  Charles, 
bad  as  he  was,  behaved,  with  greater  honefty  than  any  body  elfe. 
Nay,  he  pofitively  aclied  with  ten  thoufand  times  more  regard  to 
juftice  than  Lord  Somers,  who  is  commonly  reputed  to  have 
been  the  mofl  virtuous  and  immaculate  perfonage  in  the  fan£ti- 
fied  corps  of  revolution  whigs.  When  Charles  could  no  longer 
pay  the  intereft  of  the  money,  the  unfortunate  creditors  attemp- 
ted, but  in  vain,  to  intereft  the  legiflature  in  their  behalf.  "  1  hey 
H  were  at  laft  obliged  to  maintain  their  rights  in  the  courts  of 
"  juftice.  The  fuit  was  protracted  for  about  tivelve  years  in  the 
"  courts  below,  but  judgment  was  obtained  againft  the  crown, 
H  about  the  year  1697.  The  decifion,  however,  was  fet  afide  by 
"  Lord  Scmers,  then  chancellor ;  though  it  is  faid  that  ten  out 
"  of  the  twelve  judges,  whom  he  had  called  to  his  afiiftance  were 
"  of  a  different  opinion.  The  caufe  was  at  laft  carried  by  appeal 
"  to  the  houfe  of  lords,  by  whom  the  decree  of  the  chancellor 
"  was  reverfed  -,  and  the  patentees  would  of  courfe  have  receiv- 
u  ed  the  annual  intereft  contained  in  the  original  letters  patent ,  had 
"  not  an  act  paffed  anno  1699,  by  which,  in  lieu  thereof,  it  was 
"  enacted,  that  after  the  25th  of  December,  1705,  the  heredi- 
"  tary  revenue  of  excife  fhould  ftand  charged  with  the  annual 
"  payment  of  thr:  ~Eper  cent,  for  the  principal  fum  contained  in 
"  the  faid  letters  patent,  fubject  neverthelefs  to  be  redeemed 
iC  upon  the  payment  of  a  moiety  thereof,  or  fix  hundred  and 
"  fixty-four  thoufand,  two  hundred  and  fixty-three  pounds."f 

The  good  people  of  Britain  fpeak  with  as  much  fluency  of 
French  and  Spanifh  treachery,  as  if  we  had  engroffed  in  our  own 

*  Hiftory  of  the  public  revenue,  part  n.  chap.  3. 
I  Ibid. 


(     43     ) 

perfons  the  whole  integrity  of  the  human  race.  Yet  it  will  be 
difficult  to  find  a  fingle  tranfactions  in  any  age,  that  more  tho- 
roughly blackens  the  character  of  an  entire  nation  than  the  rob- 
bery of  thefe  creditors.  The  perfidy  of  Charles  himielf  is  t 
in  the  fuperior  blaze  of  fubfequent  fcoundreiilm.  Firft,  the  flam- 
ing parliamentary  patriots  of  that  time  refufcd  to  trouble 
felvca  about  the  matter;  though  their  piety  was  fo  deeply  alarmed 
by  the  profpecf.  of  a  Popiih  fuccefTor  to  the  crown.  In  the  fecond 
place,  tt:e  claim  became  a  queftion  in  the  courts  b^h-zu.  Thai  the 
re-payment  of  this  thirteen  hundred  thoufand  pounds  fhculd 
ever  have  been  an  object  of  hesitation  at  ail,  w<:s,  in  iifelf,  an 
utter  difgrace  to  the  whole  fyftem  of  Englifti  juriiprudence.  The 
law-fuit  ladled  for  twelve  years.  During  this  time,  and  while  the 
court  of  London  rolled  in  luxury,  many  of  the  creditors  muft 
have  gone  to  jail,  or  at  lead,  many  fubordinate  creditors,  whom 
the  former,  in  confequence  of  this  fraud,  were  unable  to  fatisfy. 
An  immeiife  number  of  families  muft  have  been  reduced  to  beg- 
;  and  a  croud  of  honed  fathers  and  hufbands  muft  have 
died  of  a  broken  heart.  At  length  a  decilion  was  obtained,  and 
approved  by  ten  out  of  the  twelve  judges.  The  creditors  were  to 
receive  the  annual  intereft  of  their  money.  Why  they  fhould 
have  h^^n  warranted  to  recover  the  principal  fum  itfelf,  mull 
remain  among  other  fecrets  of  the  deep.  A  thoufand  racked 
bankrupts  rejoiced  in  the  profpect  of  reftitution. 

Till  at  the  latt,  a  cruel  fpoiler  carne, 

Cropt  this  fair  flower,  ani  rifiei  all  its  fweetnefs. 

The  decifion  was  reverfed  by  Somers,  the  lord  chancellor,  a 
fage,  who  exhibited  in  his  own  perfon  the  very  focus  of 
virtue.'"  This  conduct  reminds  us  of  the  prove  ,  that  the  re- 
r  is  as  bad  as  the  thief.  Charles  paid  the  intereft  c:  the  money 
as  long  as  he  could.  Somers  would  pay  nothing.  It  is  therefore 
indifpu table  that,  of  the  two  rogues,  the  receiver  was  in  this  in- 
ftance,  by  much  the  greater.  The  houfe  of  lords  reverfed  fo 
fcandalous  a  decree,  but  mark  what  follows.  An  act  of  parlia- 
ment was  immediately  palled,  which,  in  opposition  to  every 

*  "  One  of  thofe  divine  men,  who,  like  a  chapel  in  a  palace,  remain  unpro- 
"  phaned,  while  all  the  reft  is  tyranny,  corruption,  and  folly.  AH  the  tradition- 
"  al  accounts  of  him,  the  hiftorians  of  the  laft  age,  and  its  beft  authors,  repre- 
"  fent  him  as  the  £  fbe  honeftpfljliitefitian ;   ;.sa  matter  Orator, 

"  a  genius  of  the  finerf  tafte,  and  as  a  patriot  i/f  the  nobleft  and  bioft  ex:_ 

-;  as  a  man.  wh  '.  blelBngs  by  Irj  liie,  and  planned  them  for 

"  pofterity."  Catalogue  of  royal  and  noble  authors  by  Horace  Walpole.  Art. 
Somers.  The  writer  proceeds  in  a  rhapfody  of  five  pages  to  th  ufpcfe. 

He  appeals  to  th  -  hiftorians  and  i  of  the  laic  age.  It  is  likely  that  none 

of  thefe  encomiafts  had  been  creditors  to  the  Englifh  exchequer,  in  the  reign  of 
Charles  the  fecond.  But  the  panegyrics  of  all  mankind  cannot  convert  an  ael  of 
arrant  robbery  into  an  ait  of  joftice.  The  hiftorians  to  whom  Mf'.  Walpole  ap- 
peals, prove  nothing  but  how  vilely  the  Britifh  annals  have  commonly  been  com- 
pofed. 


C     44     ) 

principle  of  law,  of  juftice,  and  of  decency,  interfered  with  the 
decifion  of  a  judicial  court.  To  confummate  the  infamy  of  the 
Englifti  houfe  of  peers,  they  confented  as  legifatcrs,  to  the  re- 
verfal  of  their  own  decifion  as  judges,  thus  demonftrating  their 
invulnerable  contempt  for  all  veif  ige  of  reputation.  In  the  end, 
payment  was  delayed  for  more  than  five  additional  years,  and 
then,  the  half  of  the  legal  mtereft  was  begun  to  be  paid  an- 
nually,  but  redeemable  on  refunding  half  of  the  film  origin- 
ally ftolen.  The  reader  will  obferve  in  what  kind  of  milk  and 
water  flyleSir  John  Sinclair  has  related  this  ftdry.  He  has  made 
a  fubfequent  butfmall  miftakc,  in  faying  that  the  creditors  were 
kept  for  twenty-five  years  out  of  their  money.  From  a  year  be- 
fore the  death  of  Charles  the  fecond,*  to  the  25th  of  Decem- 
ber, 1705,  is  a  period  of  lefs  than  twenty-three  years.  At  fwper 
cent,  of  compound  ihtefeft,  a  fum  doubles  itielf  once  in  elevsn 
years,  and  three  hundred  and  thirty-one  days,  or  twice,  in  twen- 
ty-three years  and  about  ten  months.  For  the  fake  of  round 
numbers,  let  us  reduce  the  original  debt  to  thirteen  hundred 
thoufand  pounds,  and  fuppofe  that  it  doubled  twice  during  the 
time  when  payment  of  interelt  was  fufpended.  At  this  rate,  the 
merchants  had  in  December,  1705,  loft  five  millions  and  two 
hundred  thoufand  pounds  iterling,  befides  their  expences  in  a 
law-ftdt  of  twelve  years.  In  convpenfation,  parliament  granted 
them  an  annuity  of  three  per  rent,  on  the  original  firm,  that  is 
to  fay,  thirty-?: 2 ;;e  thoufaftd  eight  hundred  and  jifiy-jive  pounds,  fe- 
•uenteen  jhillings  cud  [even  pence  f.erli/ig.  At  fix  per  cent,  the  an- 
nual mtereft  of  five  millions  and  two  hundred  thoufand  pounds 
amounted  to  three  hundred  and  twelve  thoufand  pounds.  Thus 
parliament  gave  foraewhat  more  than  an  eighth  part  of  what  the 
merchants  had  actually  loft.  We  now  fee  that  the  felonious  Fa* 
vages  of  an  Englifh  government  are  not  reftricbed  to  Scots  High- 
landers. With  fuch  a  gulph  of  iniquity  yawning  on  every  fide, 
we  are  tempted  to  think  ourfelves  perufing  the  Tyburn  Chroni- 
cle; The  real  caufe  for  fhutting  up  the  exchequer  was  yet  more 
difrepu table  than  the  act  itielf.  Charles  had  declared  war  againft 
the  Dutch,  for  the  lame  reafon  that  a  Dey  of  Algiers  declares 
it.f  The  conteft  had  coil  more  than  five  millions  fterling.  His 
parliament  refuted  to  relieve  him  from  the  preilure  of  ibme  of 

*  He  died  on  the  Cth  of  February,  J.' 

f  "  The  wars  which  the  king  entered  into  againft  the  Dutch,  were  principal- 
ly with  a  view  of  pi  imagined,  a  ncigh- 
"  hour."  Hiflory  of  thepublic  revenue,  part  i.  chap.  9.  1  K<  war,  begun  b)  the 
comnionwe;  .:.  Holland,  in  1652,  was  likewife  unprovoked 
by  the  latter.  In  thefe  three  quarrels  more  lives  were  loft,  and  more  roifchief 
doii<.;  than  has  been  committed  by  all  the  cor  air.  of  Barbary  ever  lincc,  and 
yet  \>e  pretend  to  call  thefe  people  pirates,  while  the  far  more  extennve  enormi- 
ties of  the  Britifh  navj  ,  are  burnilhed  into  pages  of  hcroifm.  In  ihc  practice  of 
fea-robbery  England  has  exceeded  every  other  nation.  Yid.  fome  account  of 
thefe  three  wars,  infra,  chap.  6th. 


(     45     ) 

the  expenccs.  The  king  offered  to  make  any  man  treafurer,  who 
would  remove  his  neceflities.  Clifford  embraced  die  propoial, 
and  the  exchequer  was  clofed.  The  Dutch  wars  were  infinitely 
more  criminal  than  even  this  action,  but  thefe  were  only  pirat  ies 
abroad  ;  the  other  was  piracy  at  home  ;  and  for  that  reafon  on- 
ly has  it  been  condemned.  In  16^,  Oliver  Cromwell,  without 
either  provocation  or  pretence,  attacked  Spain  ;  and  we  {till  ce- 
lebrate the  Algerine  victories  of  admiral  Blake  over  the  fleets  of 
that  injured  country,  which  proves  that  the  nation  has  not  yet 
acquired  more  wifdom  or  honefty,  than  its  anceitors.  A  very 
modern  example  of  profligacy  {frail  clofe  this  chapter. 

Sixty  thoufand  pounds  were  granted  by  parliament  to  George 
the  Third,  that  he  might  be  enabled  to  make  an  eiiabliili- 
ment  for  his  eldeft  fon.  Fifty  thoufand  pounds  a  year  were 
likewife  bellowed  upon  this  young  man  for  his  perianal  expences. 
An  hundred  and  eighty-one  thoufand  pounds  have  mice  been 
affigned  by  parliament  for  his  works  at  Carltton-houie,  and  for 
the  difeharge  of  debts  which  he  had  contracted  notwithftuhding 
his  penhonof  fifty  thou  land  pounds  a  year.f  Ten  thoufand  pounds 
per  annum,  like  a  drop  in  the  bucket,  were  alio  added  to  his  al- 
lowance, that  he  might  never  be  under  the  necefiity  of  incurring 
new  debts.  It  is  faid,  however,  that  the  fum  thus  entruited,  was 
never  applied  to  the  difeharge  of  his  debts  •,  and  at  leaft  one  cir- 
cumftance  is  certain,  that  the  prince  of  Wales  continues  to  be 
on  the  wrong  fide  of  the  hedge,  by  many  hundred  thoufands  of 
pounds.  A  gentleman,  who  had  the  belt  accefs  to  information, 
hath  privately  (fated  them  to  be  at  leaft  a  million  ilerling.  It  is 
reported,  that  great  numbers  of  London  tradefmen  have  been 
compelled  to  (hue  up  their  (hops,  in  confequence  of  their  unfor- 
tunate connection  with  this  bankrupt.  His  itud  of  hdrfes  has 
more  than  once. been  fold  for  much  lefs  than  thefe  animals  ori- 
ginally coft  him.  The  talk  of  recording  his  exploits,  muft  be  re- 
ferved  for  the  pen  of  fome  future  Suetonius.  At  the  prefent 
time  (^September,  1792,)  it  may  be  fafely  computed,  that  in  one 
fhaue  or  other,  he  has  expended  for  the  nation  eight  hundred 
thoufand  pounds  fterling.  We  may  compare  this  mode  of  ex- 
haufcing  the  public  treafury,  with  that  employed  in  the  high- 
lands of  Scotland  to  rcplenifh  it. 

On  a  fubject  fo  hateful,  there  can  be  no  pleafure  to  expatiate. 
Indeed,  the  taite  of  the  nation  runs  in  a  very  oppoiite  channel. 
We  can  hardly  open  a  newfpaper,  without  meeting  a  rhapfody 
on  the  virtues  and  abilities  of  the  prince  of  Wales.  His  admirers, 
like  the  fpaniel  that  licks  the  foot  railed  to  kick  him,  are  not  con- 
tented with  general  praife.  They  tell  us,  in  tranfports  of  exul- 
tation, that  he  gave  a  thoufand  guineas  for  "  an 

f  HlUory  of  the  public  revenue,  part  111.  chap.  2. 


(     4«     ) 

box  ;"  that,  upon  a  late  birth-day,  he  appeared  at  court  in  a  fuit 
of  cloaths,  which,  including  diamonds,  coft  eighty  thoufand 
pounds  ;  that  he  bought  a  race-horfe  for  fifteen  hundred  gui- 
neas, and  (old  him  for  feventy  pounds  ;  that  he  was  prefent 
ibmetime  ago  at  a  boxing  match,  where  a  fhoemaker  was  (truck 
dead  with  a  tingle  blow  •,  and  that  he  drove  a  lady  round  St. 
James's  Park,  or  that  ihe  drove  him,  no  matter  which,  in  a  phae- 
ton, with  four  black  ponies.f 

For  thefe  ineftimable  fervices,  the  nation  has  paid  eight  hun- 
dred thoufand  pounds  ;  a  fum  loll  in  the  bottomlefs  pit  of  Cane- 
ton  houfe.  How  many  future  millions  are,  like  Curtius,  to  be 
fwailowed  up  in  the  lame  gulph,  time  only  can  determine.  Since 
this  country  had  the  honor  of  eftabliihing  a  houfehold  for  the 
prince  of  Y\rales,  we  have  been  burdened  w  ith  additional  taxes 
upon  fnuff  and  tobacco,  on  paper,  advertifements,  leather,  per- 
fumery, horfes,  attornies,  batchelors,ilage-coaches,  gloves,  hats, 
male  and  female  fervants,1:  pedlars  and  mop-keepers;  upon  win- 
dows, candles,  medicines,  bills  and  receipts  ;  upon  newfpapers 
and  partridges  ;  and  if  any  thing  can  be  yet  more  impertinent 
or  oppreilive,  on  births,  burials  and  legacies  ;  befides  other  im- 
pchtions  beyond  the  retention  of  perhaps  the  ftrongei't  memory. 
Now,  it  is  remarkable,  that  ten  of  thefe  taxes  might  be  felected, 
which,by  theirnett  produce,  could  not,  in  whole, have  difcharged 
the  expences  of  this  fingle  private  perfon.  We  are  inceilantly 
deafened  about  our  obligations  to  the  houfe  of  Guelph.  It  would 
be  but  candid  to  ftate  an  eftiinate  of  their  obligations  to  us,  and 
to  {hike  the  balance. 

In  North- Am:riea}  there  are  fometimes  found  the  bones  of  a 
carniverous  quadruped,  which  mull  have  been,  when  alive,  three 
or  four  times  larger  than  the  elephant.  This  animal,  which  may 
likely  have  been  amphibious,  appears  now  to  be  extirpated.  Per- 
haps it  perifhed  from  an  impollibiiity  of  obtaining  adequate  iub- 
iiifence.  A  forefl  thirty  leagues  in  length  would  have  been  in- 
iuilieient  to  furnifh  food  for  lb  formidable  agueft.  It  is  poilible 
that  the  [pedes  of  kings  may,  one  day,  come  to  be  extirpated  for 
a  fimilar  reafon.  The  gluttony  of  the  mammoth,  devouring  fix 
buuuloes   for  a  breakfait,  bears  no  proportion  to  the  ordinary 

f  It  is  very  generally  whifpered  and  be  •    an  ilkjirhus  perfohage  (hot 

pne ;  drtls  Jbotiifch  dead  with  a  piftol,  for difrefpeeVto  a  woman.  If  (his  be  truej 
the  life  of  I>r.  Philip  Withers  has  not  bsea  the  only  facrifice-at  that  flirinc;  nor 

will  Morocco  be  in  future,  the  Oftly  country  in  tfre  world  governed  by  an  exe- 
cutioner. 

In  the  London  Chronicle,  I.  read,  many  years  ago,  an  article  (fating,  that  a  very 
Voting  naval  officer,  «*!  had  (tabbed  one  of  ids 

icrvauts.  there  Was  never  anv  farther  notice  in  the  newfpapers  of  this  itory  ; 
but  I  have  unoe  learned,  that  the  man  died  of  his  wound  ;  and  that  a  faiior  ou 
board  of  the  flup  where  the  murder  w*s  committed,  underwent  a  (ham  trial  for 
it, and  wras  difcharged. 

J  The  latter  tax  ought  to  have  beer,  entitled  a  receipt  for  female  idlencfs, 
theft  and  nroftitution. 


(     47     ) 

extent  of  royal  rapacity.  Two  hundred  families  of  fovereigns, 
like  thole  of  France  or  England,  would,  of  the  mi  elves,  be  iuf- 
fictcnt  for  cdnfuming  the  whole  revenues  of  Europe. 

In  the  courie  of  a  century,  from  the  revolution  to  Michaelmas, 
I  "88,  the  pilots  of  our  molt  excellent  conflitution,  have  received 
into  the  Britifh  exchequer,  one  thcufand  millions,  fix  hundred 
and  fertv-four  thoufand,  one  hundred  and  fifty-four  pounds  fter- 
ling«*  It  will  be  hard  to  prove,  that  even  a  twentieth  part  of  this 
monev  has  been  expended  on  wife  or  ufeful  purpofes.  To  this 
■  uft  add  the  charge  of  collecting  the  revenue  for  the  fame 
pericd,which,  on  a  medium,  can  be  guelTed  at  fix  hundred  thou- 
fand pounds  per  annum.  This  rate  extends,  in  an  hundred  year?, 
to  fixty  millions  of  pounds  fterling,  deburfed  for  the  invaluable 
exploits  of  cuftom-houfe  and  excife  officers.  Such  a  fum,  at  a 
compound  iritereft  of  five  per  cent,  computing  from  the  refpec- 
tive  dates  of  its  annual  expenditure,  would,  by  this  time,  have 
been  large  enough  to  buy  up,  in  fee  fimple,  the  Britifh  iilands, 
with  the  laft  acre,  and  the  laft  guinea  that  they  contain. . 


CHAPTER     II. 


Fertility   of   the    Hebrides — I/lay — Its  prodigious 

Imtnenfe  abundance  of ' fifo — Ivliferable  ejjneffs  cf  excife — Salt  and 
coal  duties — Specimen  of  Scots  Jinecures. 

WE  have,  in  the  laft  chapter,  learned  forne  of  the  circum- 
ftances  that  prevent  the  improvement  of  Scots  flfheries. 
We  fhall  now  return  to  that  fubjeel:,  by  a  farther  examination 
of  Dr.  Anderfon's  performance.  Other  writers  have  caft  light 
on  this  queition,  and  well  deferve  to  be  quoted.  But  the  prefent 
work  embraces  an  immenfe  multiplicity  of  objects  ;  and  hence, 
it  becomes  requifite  to  condenfe  and  abridge  our  materials. 
There  is  not  to  be  expected,  in  this  place,  a  complete  account 
of  the  fituation  of  the  inhabitants  in  the  northern  counties,  and 
in  the  iilands  of  Scotland.  A  few  interefting  facts  only  will  be 
ftated  ;  fome  (hocking  abufes  of  government  will  be  exhibited  ; 
and  fome  obvious  reflections  will  be  fubmittcd  to  the  public. 
By  a  fketch  of  this  kind,  the  fpirit  of  curiofity  and  of  enquiry 
may  perhaps  be  excited  ;  and  then  every  pcrfon  is  able,  at  his 
own  convenience,  to  make  himfelf  matter  of  the  cafe.  This 
may  be  reiolved  into  three  points,  the  natural  advantages  of  the 
country  itfelf,  the  miferable  confequences  refulting  from  the 
tyranny  of  parliament,  and  the  numerous  benefits  that  would 
arife  from  an  honeft  and  beneficent  admiuiflration. 

*  Hiilory  of  the  public  revenue,  part  lis.  ch:ip.  I. 


(     48     ) 

It  has  commonly  been  fuppofed,  that  the  Hebrides  were  bar- 
ren and  unfit  for  agriculture.  On  the  contrary,  Dr.  Anderfon 
ftates,that  they  contain  extenfive  fields  of  unufual  fertility.  Many 
traces  which  have  never  been  ploughed  are  capable  to  produce 
corn,  and  to  fupply  fubfiftence  for  a  multitude  of  people.  Arran 
excepted,  which  is  very  mountainous,  the  weftern  iflands  are 
for  the  moil  part  level.  Tiree,  for  example,  is  one  continued 
plain  of  fine  arable  land,  with  only  two  fmall  hills.  The  well 
iide  of  Barra,  of  TJill,  and  of  Harris,  and  the  whole  of  the 
iflands  between  thefe,  as  well  as  the  north-well  fide  of  Lewis, 
are  low  lands.  They  are  one  entire  bed  of  fhell-fand,  and  ex- 
tremely fruitful.  Dr.  Anderfon,  who  is  himfelf  a  farmer  of 
experience,  obferves,  that  the  fields  of  fhell-fand,  when  well 
cultivated,  and  properly  manured  with  fea-wecd,  give  crops  of 
barley,  which  cannot,  as  he  imagines,  be  equalled  in  any  part 
of  Europe.  He  adds,  that  were  he  to  fpecify  the  particulars, 
they  would  not  obtain  credit.  The  crops  of  peafe  and  rye  are 
very  luxuriant :  and  he  fuppofes  that  turnips,  lucerne,  fainfoin, 
and  wheat,  might  be  railed  in  as  great  perfection  there,  as  any 
where  in  this  quarter  of  the  world.  Lime-Hone,  marl,  and  fhell- 
fand,  are  every  where  to  be  met  with  in  great  plenty.  The  iflands 
of  Cannay  and  Egg,  confifl  of  feveral  rows  of  bafaltic  columns 
raifed  one  above  each  other.  The  ground  is  not  \t\cl,  but  the 
foil  is  very  fertile.  The  rocks  of  Lifmore  confifl  entirely  of 
lime-ilone,  and  the  land  is  fruitful,  even  to  a  proverb.  The 
climate  of  the  weftern  iflands  is  more  favourable,  :md  the  har- 
veft  for  the  moil  part  more  early  than  on  the  oppofite  coaft  of 
Scotland.  During  fummer,  the  wind  blows  commonly  from 
the  fouth-weft,  and  of  confequence  it  is  loaded  with  clouds 
from  the  Atlantic.  The  high  lands  on  the  weftern  coafls  inter- 
cept thefe  clouds,  and  the  rain  defcends  in  torrents.  But  in  the 
iflands  the  ground  is  low.*  The  clouds  pafs  over  them  without 
obflruclion.  There  is  ufually  lefs  rain  in  fummer  than  the  in- 
habitants would  defire.  The  harveft  is  more  early  and  more 
certain  than  on  the  continent.  In  May,  the  crops  are  common- 
ly fecured  before  the  end  of  September  ;  a  more  early  feafon 
than  in  Eafl  Lothain,  the  befl  corn  country  of  Scotland.  Among 
the  weftern  iflands,  whore  the  foil  is  not  fhell-fand,  the  furface 
very  frequently  confifls  of  mofly  earth.  When  manured  with 
fhell-fand,  it  becomes  at  once  capable  of  bearing  excellent 
crops  of  grain.  When  afterwards  laid  into  grafs,  it  becomes 
covered  with  a  fine  fwaird,  con  filling  chiefly  of  white  clover 
and  the  poa-grafles  \  fo  that  this  improved  foil  becomes  in  fu- 
ture equally  adapted  for  corn  or  pallure.  Thofe  hills,  which 
cannot  be  ploughed,  are  yet  fufceptible  of  the  greatell  improve- 
ment. When  covered  with  that  fort  of  manure  which  is  every 
where  plentiful  and  incxhauilible,  they  immediately  obtain  a 
fine  pile  of  delicate  and  perennial  grafs. 


(     49     ) 

As  an  evidence  of  what   may  be  accornplifhed   in  the  He- 
brides, by  the   joint  efforts  of  induilry  and  judgment,  we  may 
confider   the  proceedings    of    Walter  Campbell,    Efquire,    of 
Shawfield,     proprietor  of    Iflay.    About    twelve    years  before 
Dr.   Aiiderfon  came   to   vt&   it,   this   iiland,   like   molt  of  the 
Hebrides,  at  prefent,  had   no   roads  on  which  carriages  could 
be  drawn,  no  bridges,  no  public  work  of  any  kind.  It  contain- 
ed lefs  than  feven  thousand  people  ;    and  it  imported  annually, 
between  three  and  four  thoufand  bolls  of  grain.  Thus,  if  fnut 
out  from  the  reft  of  the  world,  the  inhabitants  mult  have  ex- 
pired of  hunger.  They  were  difcontented  ;  and  they   had  be- 
gun to  emigrate.  Their  departure  was  interrupted  by  the  verv 
judicious   war  againft    America,  which  commenced  for  a  duty 
of  three   pence  per  pound  upon   tea,   and   terminated  with  an 
expence  of  owt  hundred  and  thirty-nine  millions  fterhng*  Now, 
let  us  confider  the  ftate  of  this   iliand   in    the  year    1785;   In 
fpite  of  the  intervention  of  a  bloody  war,  that  ladled  for  (even 
years  and  an  half  out   of  the   twelve,  and  checked    all  forts  of 
improvement  in  all  parts   of  the   empire,    the  population   had 
augmented  to  ten  thoufand  fouls,  Thefe,  inftead  of  importing 
their  fubfiftenee,  exported  annually,  about  five  thouiand  bolls  of 
grain,    three   thouiand    fix  hundred  head  of  black  cattle,  be- 
tween three  and  four  hundred  horfes,  and  about  thirty-fix  thou- 
fand fpmdles  of  yarn,  all  of  their  own  produce  and  manufac- 
ture. Thirty  miles  oi  excellent  roads  had  already  been  formed. 
A    great   number   of    ufeful   bridges  were   erected.    A  well- 
eonftru&ed  pier  had  been  built.   A  town  was   begun  ;  and   its 
inhabitants  multiplied  with  rapiditv.   Markets  were  ooened  for 
the  produce  of  the  land.  Large   tracts  of  barren  ground  were 
annually  brought  into  culture.  The  people  were  induftrious  and 
fetisfied.  This  rapid  improvement  was  Achieved,  in  a  poor  and 
fequeitered  idand,by  the  exertion? of  a  fingle  private  gentleman.* 
Hence,  it  feems  evident,  that  if  the  reft  of  Scotland  had  been 
governed  with   equal  wifdom,  its   wealth,   population,  impor- 
tance, and  felicity,  muft,  at  the  fame  time,  have  increafed  in  a 
fimilar  proportion.  From  fixteen  hundred  thoufand  people,  we 
mould,  in  twelve  years,  have  multiplied  to  two  millions  and 
three  hundred  thoufand.   At  the  fame  time,  Scotland  muft  have 

*  Dr.  Anderfon  pbferved  to  a  friend,  that  part  of  the  fuperior  good  f?n:re  of  mr 
Campl  ell  arofe  from  his  happinefsin  being  born  u  younger  brother ^  He  did  not 
obtain  the  eflates  oi  the  family  till  he  had  readied  the  maturity  of  his  under- 
ftanding;  when  the  death  of  an  elder  fon,  without  children,  pit  him  into  poi- 
feffion  of  them.  Such  is  the  ridiculous  confequence  of  the  right  oi  primoge- 
niture, that  it  not  only  half  beggars  the  reft  of  the  family,  but  in  two  caTe* 
out  of  three,  the  object  of  its  favour  has  a  very  great  chance  for  being  a  block- 
head. Everybody  may  remark,  at  a  grammar  fchool,  that  heirs  are  in  general 
tile  moftidle,  ignorant,  and  vicious  of  all  the  boys.  Out  of  thefe  hopeful  mate- 
rials our  future  parliaments  are  to  be  formed. 

G 


(    50    ) 

been  able  to  export  grain  in  much  greater  quantities  than  what 
{he  at  preflnt  imports.  The  agriculture  of  the  country  mud  very 
foon  have  doubled  its  productions.  The  exiftence  of  feven  hun- 
dred thoufand  additional  people,  in  twelve  years  only,  hath  been 
prevented  by  the  magic  wands  of  five  or  fix  hundred  cuftom- 
houfe  and  excife  officers. 

It  is  remarkable,  that  though  the  free  government  of  Britain 
cannot  perform  revolutions  like  that  effected  by  Mr.  Campbell, 
yet  a  talk  of  this  nature  has,  within  our  own  days,  been  exe- 
cuted by  one  of  the  molt  inflexible  defpots  that  ever  menaced 
mankind.  In  the  year  1763,  the  dominions  of  Frederick  the 
Great  had  been  reduced  to  the  utmoft  diftrefs.  The  king  him-i 
felf,  in  his  pofthumous  memoirs,  obferves,  that  "  no  defcrip- 
"  tion,  however  pathetic,  can  poffibly  approach  to  the  deep,  the 
fl  afflicting,   the  mournful  impreffion,  which  the  fight  of  them 
"  i?ifpired"  Among  other  particulars,  he  tells  us,  that  they  had 
loft  five  hundred  thoufand  inhabitants.   Thirteen  thoufand  houfes 
had  been  razed  from  the  earth  ;  and  the  whole  nation,  from  the 
noble  to  the  peafant,  were  in  rags  that  hardly  covered  their  na- 
kednefs.  In  about  eight  years  of  peace,  the  breaches  of  popula- 
tion were  perfectly  repaired,  and  the  whole  country  became  as 
flourifhing  as  ever.  Thus,  what  Mr.  Campbell  acfed  upon  a  fmall 
fcale,  was  done  by  Frederick  upon  a  greater.  There  is  no  doubt 
that  Scotland  itfelf  might  be  improved  as  quickly  as  the  ifland  of 
May.  For  inltance,  Dr.  Anderfon  remarks,  that  within  the  laft 
fifty  years,  a  very  great  alteration  for  the  better  has  taken  place 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  Aberdeen.  Many  thoufand  acres  of  the 
moft  barren  land  that  can  be  conceived,  have  been  converted  in- 
to excellent  corn-fields  ;  and  he  computes  that,  in  confequence 
of  this  change,  the  rent  of  this  land  has  been  augmented  by  more 
than  thirty  thoufand  pounds  fterling^r  annum.  The  iron  forge 
at  Bunaw  gives  employment  to  feveral  families.  When  they  were 
planted  near  it,  the  foil  was  nothing  but  a  bleak  mofs  with  fome 
dwarfifh  heath.   Of  this  land,  feveral  hundred  acres  are  now 
covered  with  grafs  and  corn.  The  deep  mountain,  at  fort  Wil- 
liam, feemed  by  nature  incapable  of  improvement ;  but  is  now 
overfpread  with  gardens  and  corn-fields.  To  thefe  details  by  Dr. 
Anderfon,  every  perfon  may,  from  his  own  obfervation,  add 
others  of  the  fame  kind.  The  hiftory  of  the  parifh  of  Portpatrick, 
in  the  ftatiftical  account  of  Scotland,  affords  an  inftance  of  how 
much  may  be  done  for  a  barren  corner.  What  adds  to  the  merit 
of  the  improvements  in  Iflay  is,  that  they  were  accomplished  un- 
der the  moft  oppreffive  fyftem  of  taxation  which  can  be  devifed. 
The  proprietor  himfelf  has  encountered  the  moft  rancorous  info- 
lence  in  carrying  on  the  fifhery,  not  only  from  the  commiffion- 
ers  of  the  fait  duties,  but  from  a  petty  officer  of  excife  ;  and  if. 
he  had  not  been  a  very  able  and  powerful  man,  thefe  harpies 


(     5*     ) 

might  have  reduced  him  to  bankruptcy.  We  muft  not,  therefore, 
complain  of  providence,  becaufe  the  Hebrides,  and  a  confidera- 
ble  part  of  the  main  land  of  Scotland,  are  ftiil  in  a  ftate  of  com- 
parative defolation.  Induftry  lingers  not  for  want  of  a  richer 
foil,  or  a  milder  fky,  but  for  want  of  fuch  a  legiflator  as  Frede- 
rick fometimes  was,  and  fuch  landlords  as  Walter  Campbell.  It 
is  not  merely  by  the  quality  of  the  foil,  that  the  Hebrides  may 
become  valuable.  Mines  of  lead  and  copper  have  been  found  in 
May;  and  in  Tyree  and  Skye,  quarries  of  excellent  marble  have 
been  difcovered.  Coal  has  been  met  with  in  feveral  places,  but 
a  difcovery  of  this  nature  mult  be  ufelefs,  unlefs  to  the  iiland 
where  it  may  be  dug  ;  becaufe  the  coafting  duty  upon  coal  would 
effectually  prevent  its  being  exported,  even  to  the  neighbouring 
iflands.  Their  inhabitants  live  in  fcattered  hamlets.  They  can 
buy  but  a  fmall  quantity  of  coals  at  one  time,  poftibly  only  half 
a  ton.  The  expence  of  bringing  an  excife  officer  for  thirty  miles, 
perhaps,  to  infpec?t  the  coals,  an  expence  which  the  parties  muft 
pay,  would  often  come,  as  before  obferved,  to  four  times  the 
price  of  the  cargo.  In  the  fame  way,  if  the  natives  had  any  car- 
go fit  for  a  foreign  market,  they  muft,  before  they  can  fail,  ob- 
tain a  clearance  from  the  cuftom-houfe.  This  would,  in  many 
cafes,  coft  more  than  the  worth  of  the  cargo. 

The  circumftance  by  which  the  Hebrides  have  as  yet  been 
principally  diftinguifhed,  is  that  immenfe  quantity  of  excellent 
fiih  that  fill  the  furrounding  feas.  It  is  unneceflary  here  to  men- 
tion the  names  of  perhaps  thirty  different  kirrds,  including  a 
great  variety  of  fhell-fifh  ;  but  let  us  remark  the  idiotifm  of  the 
Englifh  government,  when  pretending  to  remit  the  fait  duties 
for  the  fake  of  encouraging  the  Scots  fifheries.  The  perfons  who 
receive  bonded  hit  are  not  fuffered  to  catch  any  fifh  but  herrings. 
They  mult  carry  their  men,  and  boats,  their  nets,  and  fait,  and 
cafks  to  the  fifhing  ground.  They  muft  remain  there  for  three 
months,  and  if  a  fhoal  of  cod  or  turbot,  of  haddocks,  of  mullet, 
of  foal,  of  flounders,  or  halybut,  comes  in  their  way,  they  are  not 
at  liberty  to  take  them;  but  are  condemned  to  fpend  thefe  three 
months  in  perfect  idlenefs,*  unlefs  they  meet  with  a  fhoal  of 
herrings.  Yet  it  frequently  happens  that,  but  for  this  prohibi- 
tion, they  could  load  their  veffels  with  cargoes  of  other  fifth  equal- 
ly valuable.  At  the  end  of  three  months,  they  muft  bring  their 
men,  their  boats,  their  nets,  their  fait,  and  their  cafks,  back  to 
the  cuftom-houfe,  before  their  fait  bonds  can  be  relieved.  If 
there  had  been  no  other  fifti  but  herrings  in  the  weftern  feas,  an 
excufe  might  have  been  made.  But  this  is  not  the  cafe.  The  dog- 
fifti  are  fometimes  to  be  met  with  in  fuch  vaft  numbers,  that 
their  back  fins  are  feen  like  a  thick  bum  of  fedges  above  the  wa- 

*  Report,  p.  43« 


(      52       ) 

tcr,  as  far  as  the  eye  can  reach.  A  boat-load  in  fuch  a  fhoal  may 
be  catched  with  a  few  hand-lines  in  an  hour  or  two.  A  valu- 
able oil  is  extracted  from  their  liver.  A  fiiherman  at  Iflay  inform- 
ed Dr.  Anderfon,  that  he  frequently  baited  a  line,  with  four  hun- 
dred hooks,  for  the  fmallef  fiat-fiih,  and  caught  at  one  haul, 
three  hundred  and  fifty.  They  conhited  of  turbo*,  foal,  and 
large  excellent  flounders,  of  two  or  three  pounds  weight.  As  to 
fkate  and  halybut,  he  could  fill  his  boat  with  them,"  when  he 
chofe  it,  at  a  fmglc  haul.  The  quantity  of  herrings  that  fome- 
tiines  approach  the  coaft,  in  one  body,  almcit  exceeds  belief.  In 
1773,  a  fliqal  came  into  Loch  Terridon.  Many  hundreds  of 
beats  were  loaded  as  oft  as  the  owners  thought  proper  for  two 
months;  and  the  quantity  caught  in  a  iingie  night,  has  been  com- 
peted, by  Dr.  Anderfon,  at  nineteen  thouiand  eight  hundred  bar- 
rels. Of  the  quantities  brought  afhore  upon  fuch  occasions,  a 
great  part  are  frequently  fufrered  to  putrii'v,  for  want  of  fait  to 
cure  them.  The  remainder  are  cured  exciuhvelv  with  huh  -alt; 
for,  in  Dr.  AnderibiVs  opinion,  as  already  obferved,  live  hun- 
I  tlioufand  people  in  the  north  of  Scotland  employ  none  elfe. 
Thus,  on  the  one  hand,  the  heaviness  of  the  tax  defeats  its  own 
purpofe,  and  on  the  other  hand,  as  the  fmugglers  of  fait  can- 
not obtain  open  leave  to  export  their  cargoes  of  fifh,  the  bu- 
iiueis  ends  in  a  mere  waile  and  deftruction.  What  better  in- 
I  was  to  be  expected,  when  the  inhabitants  of  the  weilern 
if ends  came  under  the  domination  of  an  afiembly  of  parafites, 
at  the  diilanee  of  two  hundred  leagues,  an  aiicrnbiy  who  defpife 
interefts,  abhor  their  profperity,  and  are  fuffieiently  dif- 
pofed  even  to  exterminate  their  language  ?  If  Qalgacus  had 
fubmitted  to  Julius  Agricola,  he  would  not  have  endured  any 
fuch  abfurd  defpotifm. 

At  Locli  Carron,  about  the  year  1775,  herrings  "  were  fo 
*«  throng,  that  though  the  loch,  from  the  narrow  entry,  is  above 
(<  a  league  long,  and  in  fome  places  above  a  mile  broad,  and 
"  from  lixty  to  four  fathoms  dee,  it  wa  eat  to  the 

«  crs  wild  her  their  nets  were  near  the  ground  or  lurface  ;  they 
iC  were  equally  hire  to  have  them  loaded.  Thiy  continued  in  this 
«  bay  for  live  weeks.  On  the  weft  fide  of  Skye,  I  am  informed, 
«  they  once  fwarmed  fo  thick  in  Caroy  loch,  and  fo  many  were 
"  caught,  that  they  could  not  be  carried  off"; .and  after  the  bufles 
"  were  loaded,  and  the  country  round  was  ferved,  the  neighbour* 
«  ins  farmers  made  than  up  into  compoftsy  and  manured  their  ground 
«  with  them  the  enfuing  feafon.  This  fhoal  continued  many  years 
«  upon  the  coair,  but  they  were  not  in  every  year,  nor  in  every 
<<  bay,  fo  thick  as  this  lait ;  but  were,  for  a  number  of  years,  fo 
"  much  fo,  that  ail  the  buries  made  cargoes,  and  the  whole  coafts 
"  were  abundantly  ferved. — At  Loch  Urn,  in  1767,  or  1768, 
"  fuch  a  quantity  ran  on  JJjorey  that  the  beach,  for  four  miles 


(     53     ) 

u  round  the  head  of  the  loch,  was  covered  with  them,  from 
"  fix  to  eighteen  inches  deep  ;  and  the  ground  underwater,  fo 
"  far  as  it  could  be  feen  a:  .  r,  was  equally  fo.   I  believe 

"  the  whole  bay',  from  the  narrow  to  the  mouth,  about  twelve 
"  miles  long,  and  a  league  broad,  was  full  of  them.  I  am  aMb 
"  of  opinion,  that  the  ftrongeft  fifh  being  without,  in  forcing 
*£  aieir  way  into  the  inner  bav.  drove  the  lighteft  and  weakeft 
"  on  ihore.  So  thick  were  thefe  lail,  that  they  carried  before 
"  them  every  other  kind  of  fifh  they  met,  even  ground-liih, 
"  (kate,  flounders,  &e.  and  perifhed  together.'**  With  inch 
inconceivable  quantities  of  fifh  at  home,  we  can  be  under  no 
neceffity  for  wandering  in  quell  of  employment,  to  Greenland,. 
to  Newfoundland,  to  Falkland's  iflands,  or  to  Noctka  Sound  ; 
and  of  obtaining  a  permiifion  for  fi tiling  fo  far  off,  at  an  expence 
of  three  millions  fterling.  The  true  caufe  for  fuch  conduct  is 
fhbrtly  this.  At  the  union,  Scotland  came  under  the  yoke  of  an 
lernv,  bv  whom  (he  was  equal,  ind'deteflfcdj 

rage  to  the  empire  in  gone,  compenlate  to 

nd,  for  the  mortification  of  having  promoted 
Sects  opulence. f 

In  the  year  1784,  a  fhoa!  of  herrings  crane  irito  Lech  Urn. 
Mr.  MlDonell,  of  Barrifdale,  gave  it  as  V  n,  that  in  the 

courfe  of  feven   or  eight  weeks,  a  qp  .     a,   that,  if 

fit  to  market  fold  fcr  fiftv-ft  ad  pounds 

Double  t]  ::y  might  have  been    taken,  but   for 

the  want  of  fait  and  of  eaias.  Were  it  not  e  interruption 

of  an  excife,  and  feme  other  obvious  caufes,  the  fifhery  bufi- 
neis,  in  that  quarter,  would  be  more  fricratr  than  any  other  chat 
a  labouring  man  can  follow  in  any  part  of  Britain.tf 

Thefe  examples  prove  what  immenfe  loads  of  fifh  might  be 
killed,  if  the  people  had  a  proper  fupply  C  id  of  calks  for 

curing  them,  and  a  fuitable  market  for  .hem  ;  fo  that  they 

might  be  able  to  continue  at  the  fifhery  during  the  whole  time 
which  it  killed.  At  prefent,  the  mifchief  that  is  left  undone  by 
the  exorbitant  excife  ivion  fait,  is  completed  bvthe  prepofterous 
terms  on  which  the  bounty  is  granted.  When  a  bufs  has  comple- 
ted her  cargo,  Jhe  mujl  abandon  thejijhing  entirety ;  and  none  cf  her 

*  Illuftxations  of  the  teport,  p.  158. 

f  The  pr  »d  of  paving  and  lighting  the  ftreets  of  London,  is,  as  an 

improvement,  fcitiu  the  mofc  fenfible  manner  by  all  ranks  arid  degrees  of  peo- 
ple. The  plan  of  this  work  was  borrowed  from' the  high  ftreet  ox  Edinburgh, 
and  the  very  ftones  for  the  pavement  were  imported  from  Scotland.  For  the 
perfonal  fafety  of  rhte  gentlemen  concerned,  and  their  families,  thefe  circum- 
ftances  were  concealed  from  the  rabble  with  the  ftricteft  caution.  The  ferocity 
of  vulgar  patriotism  would  not  have  fiiffered  the  acknowledgment  of  fuch  an  ob- 
ligation to  North-Britain,  a  con  •  ry,  on  which  they  daily  exhauft  the  vocabu- 
lary of  Billingfgate.  Vid.  Dr.  Wendeborn. 

I  Report,  p.  14. 


.    v     (     54     ) 

hands  can  return  to  it  again  in  lefs  than  eight  or  ten  weeks,  be- 
fore which  time,  the  people  of  the  bufs  might  have  catched  per- 
haps twenty  loadings,  had  they  been  permitted  to  remain. 

From  the  complicated  and  oppreflive  conditions  upon  which 
the  bounty  offered  by  parliament  has  been  granted,  there  is 
ground  to  queftion  whether  a  fingle  penny  of  it  has  ever  gone 
into  the  pockets  of  the  fifhermen.  Firft,  the  bounty  would  oc- 
cafion  fo  great  an  expence  to  many  of  the  more  remote  inhabi- 
tants of  the  Hebrides,  that  they  are  entirely  out  of  the  queftion. 
Before  a  native  of  the  weftern  coafls  or  ifiands,  can  enter  him- 
felf,  even  as  a  private  mariner,  on  board  one  of  thofe  veiTels, 
that  apply  for  the  bounty,  he  mull  go  to  Greenock,  Rothefay,  or 
Campbelron,  and  there  wait  till  he  is  engaged  and  muttered.  If 
this  happens  at  one  of  the  two  former  places,  he  proceeds  to 
Campbelton  to  be  rendezvouied.  Thefc  marches  and  counter- 
marches confume  a  month  or  fix  weeks  of  time,  and  a  great 
deal  of  money.  At  laft  he  returns  to  the  very  fpot  from  whence 
he  fet  out.*  Thus  it  would  be  impofhble  for  a  great  part  of  the 
weftern  Highlanders,  ever  to  fend  a  bufs  on  fuch  a  circuitous 
voyage,  for  they  would  be  obliged  to  difpatch  her  a  fecond  time 
to  the  fouch,  to  a  fecond  rendezvous,  and  to  be  at  the  charge  of 
her  making  a  fecond  return  home.  She  would  thus  be  forced  to 
perforin  four  voyages  inflead  of  two.  The  door  to  the  pretend- 
ed bounty,  that  ftoney  piece  of  bread,  is,  by  this  means,  both 
fhut  and  bolted.  Even  to  the  bufles  that  earn  it,  the  bounty 
is  but  a  mere  delufion.  On  the  eaftern  coaft  of  Scotland,  the 
cuftom-houfe  fees,  on  fitting  out  fuch  a  vefTel  of  thirty  tons,  are 
about  feven  pounds.  The  bounty  is  only  forty-five  pounds.  The 
time  wafted  in  going  to  a  place  of  rendezvous,  before  (he  fails, 
and  at  her  return,  cod  a  month  of  delay,  and  a  charge  of  twen- 
ty pounds.  Thus,  more  than  one  half  of  the  bounty  is  already 
funk.  In  the  fecond  place,  fhe  is  prohibited  from  catching  any 
ftfh  but  herrings.  On  that  account  ihe  muft  have  neither  lines 
nor  hooks  on  board.  Though  furrounded  by  whales  and  dog- 
nfh,  cod,  ling,  mackarel,  and  other  aquatic  tribes,  that  follow 
the  herrings  in  vaft  numbers,  the  men  in  thefe  veiTels,  when 
herrings  do  not  come  in  their  way,  are  kept  idle  for  weeks  to- 
gether, while  charges  multiply  on  the  head  of  the  undertaker.f 
A  third  heavy  obftru£tion  is,  that  all  the  hands  in  the  bufs  muft 
be  muftered  at  the  cuftom-houfe,  not  only  before  failing,  but 
after  the  veffel  returns.  Thus  many  fiftiers  muft  be  carried  back 
to  the  rendezvous,  who  are  fuperfluous  for  navigating  the  bufs, 
and  who  would  otherwife  be  left  on  the  fiftiing-ground  till  the 
end  of  the  feafon  •,  and  this  regulation  alfo  is  very  burdenfome 
to  the  owner.  The  bounty  is  thus  utterly  confumed  in  comply- 

*  Report,  p.  44.  f  llluftrations  of  the  report,  p.  1 84 


(     55     ) 

ing  with  a  fyftem  of  regulations,  more  fantaflical  than  the  con- 
fulfhip  of  Caligula's  horfe.* 

Thofe  Hebrideans  who  cannot  or  do  not  embrace  the  terms 
of  the  bounty,  are  therefore  at  liberty  to  continue  at  the  nthing 
as  long  as  they  pleafe.  They  are  idle  or  bufy,  juft  as  they  are 
fupplied  with  fait.  When  a  fmuggling  falt-boat  arrives,  they 
will  get  perhaps  fix  millings  per  barrel  for  their  herrings.  As 
that  fait  is  expended,  the  price  falls  to  five,  four,  three,  two, 
one  milling  per  barrel,  and  fometimes  to  fix-pence  or  eight- 
pence.  At  other  times,  you  may  purchafe  a  barrel  of  fine 
frelh  herrings  for  a  fmgle  quid  of  tobacco. f  A  barrel  contains 
from  fix  to  fixteen  hundred  herrings,  according  to  their  fize. 

It  feems  needlefs  to  enlarge  much  farther  on  the  immenfe 
advantages  that  might  be  derived  from  this  inexhauftible  re- 
fource  for  the  induftry  and  fubfiftence  of  the  Scots  nation.  If 
the  bounties  and  taxes  were  at  once  abolilhed,  and  the  Dutch 
prohibited  from  interfering  in  the  fiiherv,  the  Hebrides  and 
the  weftern  coafts  of  Scotland,  would,  likely,  in  the  courfe 
of  thirty  or  forty  years,  quadruple  their  pre  lent  population. 
It  might  with  reafon  be  expected,  that  tnoufands  of  the  Dutch 
mariners,  who  are  at  prefent  employed  in  that  bufinefs,  would 
come  and  fettle  in  the  country.  Multitudes  would  likewife 
flock  from  different  quarters  of  Britain.  Villages  of  manu- 
facturers would  by  degrees  be  eftabliihed,  and  the  Hebrides 
would  prefent  a  proipect  of    induftry,  of  profperity,  and  of 

*  Foreigners  unacquainted  with  the  current  ftyle  of  Britifh  converfation,  may  con- 
demn companions  like  that  in  the  text.  Let  us  hear  with  what  reverence  the  legi  *- 
tors  of  this  country  fpeak  and  think  of  each  other. 

I  he  Eari  oi  Buchan  hath  juft  now  pubiifhed  the  lives  of  Fletcher,  of  Sa'ton,  and 
of  James  Thornton.  He  there  tells  us,  that  he  once  laid  to  Lord  Chatham,  "  What 
"  will  become  of  poor  England,  that  doats  on  the  imperfections  of  her  pretended  con- 
*'  ftitution  ?"  Chatham  replied,  "  The  goal  wili  difpofeof  me  foon  esough  to  prevent 
"me  from  feeling  the  confequences  of  this  infatuation;  but,  before  the  end  of  this 
"  century,  either  the  parliament  will  reform  itfelf  fiosn  ivithin,  or  be  reformed  wkh 
"  a  vengeance  from  without."  Thus  ipoke  one  of  the  matters  of  the  puppet-fhew. 
It  is  beyond  the  compafs  of  human  language  to  expreis  the  depth  of  contempt  and 
deteitatkm,  couched  under  thefe  few  words. 

On  the  2Sth  of  February,  1785,  Edmund  Burke  addreffed  the  Houfe  of  Commons, 
concerning  the  aftonifblng  composition  made  with  the  creditcrs  of  the  Nabob  of  Arcor. 
In  this  affair,  Mr.  Pitt  and  Mr.  Dundas  were  the  principals,  and  he  thus  defences 
their  conduct  :  "  Let  no  man  hereafter  talk  of  the  decaying  energies  of  nature. 
"  All  the  ads  and  monuments  in  the  records  of  peculation  ;  the  consolidated  cor- 
"  ruption  of  ages  ;  the  patterns  of  exemplary  plunder  in  the  heroic  times  of  Roma:* 
"  iniquity,  ne'-er  equalled  the  gigantic  corruption  of  thisfvgle  aci !  Never  did  Neio, 
"  in  all  the  inioien:  prodigality  of  delpofifm,  deal  out  to  his  praetorian  guar's,  a 
••  donation  St  to  be  named  with  the  largefs  iliowered  down,  by  the  bounty  of  our 
"  chancellor  of  the  exchequer  (Mr.  Pitt, J  en  the  faithful  band  of  his  Indian  Sea- 
•'  poys." 

A  member  in  parliament,  fome  vears  ago,  told  Sir  John  Miller,  that  he  no  more 
underload  a  fubjecl  which  he  had  been  fpeatdng  on,  than  the  animal  above  mentioned 
did  the  duties  of  his  jthce.  i  his  elegant  hmilie  is  to  be  found  in  the  parliam-nta.y 
debates.  A  note  of  the  da:e  has  been  niillaid,  but  the  quotation  is  perfectly 
coired. 

f  llluftrations  of  the  report,  p.  163. 


(     56     ) 

happinefs,  which  :he  mod  fanguine  friend  to  national  improve- 
ments can  at  prelent  hardly  conjecture.  To  make  this  afler- 
tion  intelligible,  and  to  lhow  what  benefits  may  be  derived 
from  the  Britilh  fiiheries,  no  writer  can  be  cited  with  more 
propriety  .than  John  De  Witt,  Grand  Penfioner  of  Holland. 
He  informs  us,  on  the  authority  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  that 
in  the  year  1618,  the  Hollanders  employed,  on  the  coafr  of 
Britain,  three  thou  fa  nd  (hips,  and  fifty  thoufand  men  ;  and 
that  for  transporting  and  idling  the  fun  fo  taken,  and  b: 
ing  home  the  returns  for  them,  they  required  nine  thoufand 
additional  (hips.,  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  thoufand  men. 
Perhaps  this  eftinute  was  exaggerated,  but  the  real  number  cf 
men  and  of  {hips,  engaged  in  Britilh  fifneries,  muft  have  been 
very  great.  De  Witt  quotes  a  Dutch  writer,  who  relates,  that 
in  the  fpace  of  three  days,  in  the  year  1601,  there  failed  out 
of  Holland,  to  the  eaftward,  between  eight  and  nine  hundred 
(hips,  and  fifteen  hundred  buftes  for  the  herring  fiiherv.  The 
(r'.md  Penfioner  adds,  that  from  the  time  of  Sir  Walter  Ra- 
leigh, to  the  year  1667,  the  Dutch  fifheries  had  been  increas- 
ed one  third  part.  He  conjectures  that  the  [Jnited  Provinces 
contained  two  millions  and  four  hundred  thoufand  people,  and 
of  thefe,  that  four  hundred  and  fifty  thoufand  perfons  derived 
their  fubfiftence  from  the  fifheries,  and  the  commerce  and  ma- 
nufactures which  depended  upon  them.*  Thefe  particulars  are 
b:\eifpecified  to  prove  that  Dr.  Anderfon  has  not,  on  this  fub- 
ject,  made  an  extravagant  fuppofition.  He  efiimates  that  one 
hundred  thoufand  fifhermen  might  find  confiant  employment 
in  the  British  fea.  He  thinks,  that  if  this  number  of  fiiher- 
men  were  employed,  there  would  likewife  be  wanted,  twenty 
or  thirty  thoufand  mariners  for  tranfporting  the  cargoes  to 
market,  and  for  bringing  the  necefTary  return  of  fait,  of  coals, 
of  grain,  of  calks,  of  the  materials  for  {hip-building,  and  the 
numberiefs  articles  dependent  on  an  extenfive  fifhery.f  Suppo- 
fing  that  eighty  thoufand  of  thefe  mariners  were  married,  and 
that  the  hufbandshad,  on  an  average,  four  children,  the  total 
amount  of  their  families  would  be  four  hundred  thoufand  per- 
fons. Thefe,  added  to  an  hundred  and  twenty  thoufand  fea- 
men,  would  make,  in  whole,  an  addition  of  five  hundred 
and   twenty   thoufand    Britilh  Jubje&s.$     But  this   is  not  all. 

*  The  True  Tn'tereft  and  Political  Maxims  of  Holland,  part  I,  chapters  6  and  9, 
tranflated  bv  John  Campbell,  and  printed  at  London,  in  1746.  Dr.  Anderfon,  in  his 
Evidence  before  the  committee  of  fifheries,  declares,  on  the  authority  of  De  Witt 
and  others,  that  in  the  lafl  century,  two  hundred  and  Bxty  thoufand  perfons  were 
computed  to  be  employed  by  Holland  in  the  fifheries  alone.  I  mention  thefe  different 
numbers,  without  knowing  how  to  reconcile'  them. 

f  Evidence  before  the  committee,  p.  317. 

J  This  word,  m  its  original  fenfe,  implies  fomethin^  that  is  cajl  down  and  trodden 
under  foot.  When  applied  in  its  common  acceptation,  the  choice  of  expreffion  is 
happy. 


(    57    ) 

Thefe  manner?  and  their  families  would  rot  only  fupply  a 
great  pari  of  the  nation  with  an  important  article  cf  fubfiiiencc, 
and  tlids  leffen  the  wages  of  labour,  but  they  would  afrcrd, 
among  themfelves,  a  wide  market  tor  the  conifnodities  of  the 

farmer  and  manufacturer.  They  would  thus,  in  a  double  way, 
promote  the  public  intercit.  They  would  leilen  the  exper.ee 
of  lub  Silence,  and,  at  the  fame  time,  they  would  multiply 
the  excitements  to  induftry.  The  attainment  of  thefe  two  ob- 
jects, is  the  very  Alpha  and  Omega  of  national  prosperity. 
We  ihould  then  lee  land,  which  gives  not  at  prefent  one  (hilling 
per  acre  of  rent,  produce  from  three  to  iix  pounds  (terling.* 
We  fliould  fee  a  barren  wafte  of  ftones  and  begs,  with  fcarce  a 
fingle  blade  of  grais  upon  it,  converted  into  luxuriant  crops  cf 
wheat  and  clover.  Manufacturing  villages  would  rife  in  the 
wilcernefs,  that  is  now  only  diiiinguiihed  by  monumental  vef- 
tiges  of  the  !  icts  or  the  Druids.  The  farmers  and  manufac- 
turers wou'd  veiy  likely  increafe  to  an  equal  number  with  that 
of  the  fdhermen,  and  Britain  might  thus  acquire  an  augmenta- 
tion of  a  million  and  forty  thoufand  inhabitants.  The 
example  of  Holland  fhews  that  this  conjecture  is  net  chimeri- 
cal. As  the  Hebiides  and  wefiern  ccafls  cf  Scotland,  con- 
tain by  far  the  greateft  and  moft  important  part  of  this  hiherv, 
fhev  would  have  a  chance  ot  acquiring  an  additicn  of  feven 
hundred  thoufand  people.  An  hundredth  part  of  the  millions 
expended  upon  an  ordinary  French  war,  mull  have  been  fufri- 
cient  to  found  a  colony  of  hihermen.in  the  Hebrides,  worth 
all  our  foreign  poileiTions  put  together.  I3ut  fuch  a  colony 
would  not  have  anfwered  the  purpofes  of  mii.ifterial  corrup- 
tion. They  would  not  have  entangled  us  in  a  quarrel  with 
the  reft  of  Europe.  They  would  not  have  f up  plied  our  rulers 
with  a  piaufib'e  pretence  for  loading  the  public  with  extra\a- 
gant  taxes.  Mr.  Pitt  fpeaks  of  difcharging  the  national  debt, 
i:nd  of  promoting  the  public  profperity.  At  the  fame  time  he 
accepts  a  Scots  revenue  of  five  thoufand  pounds,  that  is  railed 
at  an  expence  of  ten  thoufand.  He  gives  half  a  guinea  per 
day  to  bludgeon-men  to  drive  the  eleclors  of  John  Home 
Tooks  irom  the  hu flings  at  Y\  eilminfter  ;  and  an  annuity  of 
five  imnd.  :d  and  ninety-five  thoufand,  two  hur.d red  pounds 
fierling,  to  the  immaculate  creditors  of  the  Nabob  of  Aicot.f 

*  This  has  actually  happened  in  Ab^rdce/fhire.  The  reader  may  ccr.fu't  an  c.Ta/ 
in  the  Bee.  Vol.  7.  p.  1-.,. 

f  'i  he  reticulars  of  this  edifying  transition  a-e  to  be  fcund  in  the  works  of  Lo- 
in ind  Burke,  the  bafom  friend  of  the  "  heaven-born  niiniiler."  A  conciie  account 
of  it  will  be  given  in  the  Political  1'io^reis,  Fart  II.  Asto  t'.e  Wefttnjiiftei  ejeclioq, 
full  iirforBiarion  nu^  I;  had  fiom  T\*rcetdiiq*i  wan  aBionJor  debt  a-wu«  the  rfatt 
Gbarles  }'j»w  Fox,  f/u:>/;ffl,  and  J J:n  Horn*  \ -■-■■-<.,  Ljj.  drjtnuanit 
lirhverfin  1-^2,  cf  whicli  alfo  a  futexnary  is  infened  in  chap.  \ii.  V  hen  thff 
kj^i.)a;ure  of  a  country  cdnfifts  cf  fuch  Cha.aclers,  i:  i^  not  wondeifttl  that  our  i<<.iuic 
are  ctowded  with  the  Bocft  atiociou   edicts,     ,;..-.  .  - .  <  ..   ■-....... 

it    .   '  C  v.  ;.<.:  foU>WS; 

II 


(    51    ) 

Of-  rriniiterial  vigilance  in  collecting  the  fait  duties   rn  tlie 
Scots  Highlands,    the  foilowine;  particulars  will  afford  a  proper 
conception.     "  in  thefe  caics,    the    irrifearriage  of  a   letter, 
M  (and  ro  places  where  ri«  regalar  poft  rcoes,  this  mull  frequent- 
*l  ly  happen,)  the  carelefsneis  of  an  ignorant  ihrp-mafter,    the 
*'  miftake  of  a  clerk  in  office,   or  other  circumihmces,  equally 
?'  trivial,    often  involve   a  whole    induitrious    family  in    ruin. 
*'  There  are  inftances  of  men   being   brought  ro   Edinburgh, 
"  from  manv  hundred  miles  diib.nce,    to  the  neglect  of    their 
"  own  a-iiarrs,  merely  becaufe  of  fomc  neglect  or  omifiion   ot 
*'  fome  petty  clerk  in  office  ;    which,    when   rectified,    brings 
*:  no  other  relief,  excepting  a  permilfion  to   return   heme  zvith 
'•    no  farther  load  of  debt,  but  the  ex  pence   of  fuck  a  jzurney, 
c-  and  phziofs  it  has  occafioned.     But  ihould  the  cafe  be  other- 
t;  wile,  and  ihould  the  midake  havebeen committed  by  the  poor 
"  couacrvurin,  though  that  mritake  origTbafed  fr'orft  ignorance 
ff  only,  or  was  occasioned  bv  the  lofs  of  a  letter,  in    £0ing    to 
ii  places  where  no  regular  pofts   are    cftabKihed,    he    becomes 
?.  loaded  with    additional  burdens,    which  in    many  cafes,  alt 
"  Ins  future  mdufliry  and  care  will    never  enable  him    to  dii- 
"  charge. * 

-  Dr.  Smith,,  in  his  Inquiry  into  the  Wealth  of  Nations,, 
a  I  verts  to  the  Scots  herring  fahery.  He  fays,  that  during 
eleven  years,  from-  1771,  to  1781,  incluhve,  one  hundred 
and  fidy-hve  thowfand  i'ui'.r  hundred  and  fixiy  three  pounds, 
eleven  ih  riling?  fterfirJg  of  bounties  were  paid  on  account  of 
it.  Tills  was,  in  proportion  to  the  whole  quantity  of  herrings 
caught,  a  premium  of  twelve  {hi flings  and  three  pence,  three 
frrthings  per  barrel  ;  i^nd  this  kind  of  barrels  are  worth,  upon 
an  average,  about  a  jcuinca.t  Tims  the  legislature  paid  four- 
ievenths  of  the  market  price*  of  a  barrel  ef  herrings,  as  a 
bounty  to  the  perfons  who  caught  them.  Two-thirds  of  the 
buls-caught  herririas  a;e exported  ;  and  here,  a  fecond  bounty 
i's  given,  of  two  ihillin<;s  and  eight-pence  per  bariel.  .The 
average  number  of  velfels  employed  for  thefe  eleven  years  was 
about  one  himdred'  and  ninetv-rd  :e.  w  Three  thousand- 
"  bussed  have  been  known  to  be  employed  in  one  year  by  the 
w  Dutch,  in  the  [Scots]  herring  fiihery'y  beftdea  thole  fitted  out 

In  177')  a  law  was  marie,  which  declares  "That  all  perfons  kiting  game,  on 
"  any  prete  ee  whateveri  abocetan  h.5U? before  run-rife,  or  after fun-fet,  fiiall,  wiih- 
"  out  ref>eil  to  fex  or  quality,  and  "Without  uny  altehiati'ut  or  redemption,  be  coiu- 
"  iu  ued  to- pritbii  for  thcee  niainhs'at  hvi;  Said  Be  fubiiciy  •tobiptid  at  noonday,, 
"  in  the  tp vvn  where  the  priffon  i;-  Situated."  Thus;  after  giving  go^ermjient  thiee 
guineas  fo;  lea  'e  10  kill,  u[kh\  vaur  ovn  ground,  a  hare  that  is  dear  oi"  fix-pence,  you 
;«  e,  L/  tins  law,  fu'jjeil  to  be  whipped  (61  it,  whatever  ma/  1  e  \olu  rex  Or  con- 
<1  tion.  'Lhis  notabie  penalty  harh  Gacj:  Ljj:i  ;ja..c^J  Co  a  iae'-cf  Qvq  peuj&Ui 
flier  i.-n*. 

*    Uktl'itaCon,   of  the  report,    p.    i;-o. 
f  la-iuiiiy,  Btwi,  i\ .     e...^.   ;. 


(    59    ) 

<l  feyihc  Haifciburghers, ■Bremcncrs,  and  other  northern  poits.*" 
By  the  efitimate  of  Sir  Walter  Rajkigh,  already  cited,  a 
Dutch  bufs  carries  fixtecn  hands  and  tv  o-thirds.  If  w  &  com- 
pute that  the  veiTels  engaged  in  our  fifi  cry  by  foreign  nations 
amount,  all  together,  to  four  thoufertti-,  and  that  each  carries 
onlv  twelve  hands,  here  arc  forty-eight  thoufand  foreign  fallens 
reaping  the  maritime  harveft  of  Scotland.  The  bounty  (nit 
promifed  by  parliament  for  vefiels,  was  fifty  {Killings  per  ton. 
Mr.  Guthrie  favs,  that  "  the  bounty  was  withheld  from 
11  year  to  year,  while,  in  the  mean  time,  the  adventurers  were 
"  not  onlyjhiking.  their  forttims,  hut  abb  borrowing  *o  the 
"  u-'nofl  limits  of  their  credit."  f  It  was  then  reduced  to  thir- 
ty (hillings;  The  vefiels  are  fitted  cut  from  the  north-wefic 
parts  of  England*  the  north  of  Ireland,  the  ports  of  Clyde', 
"  and  the  neighbouring  ifland$."%  As  a  complete  demonstra- 
tion of  Dutch  good  iente,  and  of  our  own  fuperlative  Cupidity, 
we  need  only  to  obierve  that  the  Hollanders  fend  out  ten 
or  fifteen  times  as  many  buffes  without  any  bounty  at  all,  as 
the  Brithh  parliament  can  collect  by  a  bounty  ecuaj  to  four- 
ievenths  of  the  edlpe.bf  all  the  herrings  taken  ;  befides  the 
remifiion  of  fait  duties,  and  a  fubfequent  bounty  on  exporta- 
tion. Mr.  Guthiie  complains  with  juftice,  that  "  this  noble 
*l  ir.ftitution,  (viz.  the  bounty,)  ftill  labours  under  many 
4i  difficulties*  from  the  caprice  and  ignorance  of  the  legiilature." 
Thus,  an  hundred  thoufaad  icamen,  and  perhaps  a  iniiiion  of 
fubjecls,  are  left  to  Britain. 

A  committee  of  the  Koufc  of  Commons,  in  one  of  their 
reports,  acknowledge,  "  that  tire  prefent  duties  upon  coals 
■'  are  too  high*  ace!  operate  more  as  a  prohibition  on  the  uie  • 
"  of  the  article,  than  as  a  benefit  to  the  revenue^"  The 
confequcnccs  of  the^oal-tax  are  fpecified  in  many  pafTaoes  of 
the  fbtifiical  account  of  Scotland.  "  Perhaps  the  greatefit 
"  barrier  againft  houfehold  iudufiry  and  manufacture  amonc- 
11  us,  is  tkejcarcity  of  fuel  in  many  parts  of  the  country.  f\ 
"  human  being,  pmched  with  cold,  when  confined  within 
'■  doors,  is  alway-  an  inactive  being.  The  day- ■Ib.-hf  during 
"  winter,  is  fpent  by  many  of  the  women  and  Children  in 
il  gathering  eldzijg,  as  tlrey  call  it ;  that  is,  fiticks,  furze,  or 
t(  broom,  for  fuel  ;  and  ihc  evening  in  Warming  their  fhivcrino* 
"  limbs  before  the  icautv  fire  it  produces.  Could  cur  legiflators 
11  be  conducted  through  this  pariih,  (Kirkenner,  in  the  county 
"  cf  Wigton,J  in  the  winter  monfta,  could  the  lords  and 
'*  car.mcns,  during  the  Chriitmas  rcccfa,  vifit  the  cottages  of 

*   Guthrie's  Geographical  Grammar.      Art.   Ishvo?  of  Scctt.akh.' 

f  Ibid.   Art.  Scotland.  i   Ifckt. 

■,   Appeudix  io    Lr.    Aaderiba'S  account  cf  the  Kcl:ric;rs.  p.     %\o. 


(    Co     ) 

"  the  poor  through  thefe  parts  of  the  united  kingdoms,  where 
"  nature  hath  refufed  coal,  and  their  laws  have  more  than 
"  doubled  the  price  of  it,  this  would  be  Shakefpenre's  whole* 
"  fome  phy/ic,  and  would,  more  than  any  thing  elfe,  quicken 
"  their  invention  to  find  ways  and  means  for  fupplving  the 
V  place  of  the  worfi  of  lazvs"%  Such  legiflators  ouffht  to  be 
feni  to  Br idewel I  dufi ng  the  recr/s,  and  to  remain  there,  fed 
on  bread  and  water,  and  without  fire  cr  candie,  to  the  end  of 
the  fellion.  Dr.  Smith,  in  his  Theory  of  Moral  Sentiments, 
temarks,  that  the  great  never  eonfaerihe  \t  inferiors  as  their  felliraS 
crea'ures.  T'he  Biitiih  land-holders  iilultrate,  on  all  occauons, 
the  veracity  of  this  maxim.  In  England,  this  tax  on  coals, 
when  transported  by  fea,  has  been  very  hurtful.  "  One 
;'  would  think,"    fays  Lord  Kaimi,    "  that  it  was  intended  to 

3  Rtatiftical   iccpiint,    vol.     i^.     p.    1.7. 

The  work  fwarrns  w  th  complaints  0-1  this  head.  This  Gmple  paftor  aoofarsto 
know  but  Utile  of  Brit  fri  lords  and  commons,  when  he  appeals  to  their  lenfibilky, 
1  akc  notice  to  what  follows  : 

"A  late  ball  given  bv  Lord  Cqurfney,  coft  fix  thrmfard  guiriea.'V  He  had,  among 
"  other  rarities,  a  thoufanrj  peaches  a:  3  guinea  each,  a  then. Unci  pottle?  cf  cherries  at 
"  hve  fHvrHngs  eadh,  a  t'rtdufarra  pottles  of  frrawberTtes  a;  Sve  fbillings  each,  and 
"  every  other  article  m  the  fatrne  proportion*"  London  Newfpapers,  5th  May,  1792. 
— tnother  newfpaper,    ibmimie  ago,  had  th's  article. 

*'  To  fueh  a  ds  Tee  of  pe:fe:tion  a~e  dog-kennels  now  brought,  that  one  lately 
"  built  by  Sit  William  Rowley,  at  his  feat  in  Suffolk,  co-e;s  four  acres  of  ground. 
*'  Among  othtr  accor>odjtio-ts  jbr  l\;s  founds,  he  has  erected  a  warm  bath,  through 
"  which  each  dog  is  regularly  purified,  afteT  <  ach  oa»-'s  chafe." 

Mendo-a,  the  bruifer,  fome  time  ago  refufed  to  fettje  the  terms  of  a  boxing-match, 
until  he  had  confuted  his  intinntejriend,  the  -Duke  of  Hamilton.  A  letter  from  hint 
to  this  effect,  appeared  in  the  public  prints.  Bis  grace,  not  long  after,  in-ired  bit 
friend  to  a-yifit  at..the  palaceof  Hamilton,  One  day,  af;er  dinner,  thje  Duke  intuv 
duced  to, h's ^company  the  urbjecl  pi  boxing.  He  extolled  the  talents  of  the  Jew, 
and  requeued  leave  to  bring  him  in,  that  the  gentlemerl  pretent  might  fee  the  proS* 
ciency  of  his  grace  ixifbirripg.  Accordingly,  the  pa- ties  ftript,  fcririg  was  foimed, 
and  the  combat  began.  i  he  Duke  did  not  Trrike  fair,  of  wh'ch  he  was  repeatedly, 
Warn*  !  by  his  friend.  The  man  was  ar  {aft  fo  exafperated  by  his  g:ace  per  ifting  in 
foil  play4,  that  h?  ta-e  h  m  a  frroke  inearneft,  which  fent  the  Duke  of  Hamilton 
ftaggering  to  th?  other  ena  of  the  room.  His  grace  was  carried  to  bed,  and  the 
com  pan  y  diiperied.  Mendcca  was  lately  in  a  Dublin  tap-room,  his  name  was  discovered*, 
and  he  was  directly  ordered  to  quit  the  Honfe.  So  different  are  the  Citizens  of  Dublin 
from  this  Se  )ts  Duke,  in  the.tr  choice  of  c6mfaxy>i 

The  Prince  of  Wales  bronght, to  Newmarket,  forne  t'ni!  ago,  a  ract-horfe  of  high 
reputation,  Ee;:^  were  la.d  in  bis  fa-  our,  but  when  he  came  upon  the  turf,  he  fed 
far  behind.  He  was  matched  to  run  a  fecond  tune  next  day,  and  betts  were  laid 
•with  a  very  great  eddsa  an.ft  h'm.  His  royal  matter  accepted  the  odds,  and  betted 
to  a  very  large  amount  :n  favour  of  h>3  borfc.  1  he  whole  aiiembtfrge  of  bl  ■ 
conEdcred  the  Prince  a^  completely  taken  in.  But  he  very  Icon  convinced  them  that 
fc*  was  more  than  a  match  for 'the  whole  gang,  at  their  own  weapons.  On  this  ic- 
c  md  da.-,  Ins  horfe  refumed  his  former  fuperiotity,  and  won  th.e  iace  with  eaie.  it 
wasfaid,  that  the  Duke  01  Bedford  alone,  toft,  by  th:s  maderly  ftroke  of  jockeyfhip, 
twelve  thoufand  pounds  fterling.  1  he  nowi^apcrs  sftjmated  the  to'.ii  balance  in  fa- 
vour of  the  Prince,  from  lift y  to  an  hundred  thoufand  pounds.  Such  was  the  tri- 
umph of 

Our  cldeit  hope,  divine  lulus, 
JLate,    vetj>  late,  0  may  he  rule  us! 

His  groom  wai  examined)  and,  as  afwindter,  forever  exiled  ft ottl  the  turf  Th  s 
falary  of  fifty  thoufand  pounds  a-year,  paid  to  ir.is  hopeful  prince,  ccmrueiicsd  about 
the  ift  of  January,   1781. 


(    6,     ) 

"  check  population. — One  may,  a'tthe  firft  glance,  diftitiguifli 

94  the  coal  counties  from  the  reft  of  England,  by  the  induflry 
"  of  the  inhabitants,  and  by  plenty  of  manufacturing  towns 
11  and  villages."* 

In  the  year  ending  on  the  fifth  of  January,    1789,    the   fait 
duties  for  Scotland,  produced  in  whole     ^1804:;     o      1  1-4 
Salaries,  incidents,  bounties  and  drawbacks,   £74^      0    II  q-4 


Xet  produce  of  the  fait  tax         -  -  9-93  *o 


Dr.  Anderfon  has  jufl  now  publifhed  a  (rate  of  the  bounties 
paid  annually  by  government,  upon  the  Sects  nfheries,  and 
of  the  premiums,  upon  the  exportation  of  Scots  herrings,! 
Thev  amount,  in  round  numbers,  to  tzrznty-tzvo  thoufand 
pounds  per  annum*  A  fociety  in  Scotland  for  encouraging  the 
rifherv,  give  about  two  thoufand  pounds.  The  Scots  board  of 
cuitoms  expend  about  ten  thou  fa  rid  pounds  annually  for  cruiz- 
ers  to  prevent  fmuggling  ;  of  which  fum,  the  Doctor  dates 
one  half,  or  five  tftoufdnd  pounds,  to  the  accompt  of  fait  duties. 
Thus,  the  bounties,  premiums,  and  cruizers  coft  all  together, 
twenty-nine  thoufand  pounds  a  year.||  The  net  revenue  of 
lalt  for  the  whole  kingdom  is  about  nine  thoufand  pounds. 
Thus  twenty  thoufand  pounds  are  funk.  If  parliament  would 
only  aboliih  the  tax,  and  order  the  Dutch  and  other  foreigners 
to  flay  at  home,  an  hundred  thoufand  mariners,  and  a  million 
of  fubjects  might  foon  be  added  to  the  population  of  Britain. 

We  have  i'^tn  the  miferable  effects  of  the  coal  tax.  The 
Scots  duties  upon  fait  and  coals  together  produce  hardly  a  net 
eighteen  thoufand  pounds  a  year  to  the  exchequer. ff  At  the 
fame  time,  the  Scots  mint,  where  not  even  a  copper  farthing 
has  been  coined  for  eighty -live  years,  colts  the  public  annu- 
ally -  - 
The  keener  of  the  great  fea! 
The  keeper  of  the  privy  leal 

The  lord  juftice  general  ... 

The  lord  regifter  - 

The  commander  in  chief  of  the  forces  in  North-Britain 
Tiie  vice-admiral  - 

Carried  for  rrard         -  12660 

*  Sketches  of  the  Hifiory  of  Man.     vol.   1.     p.  486.     Quarto  edition. 
f  Hiftorv  ef  Revenue,   part  irr.  chap.   6. 

J  This  premium,  as  above  ftated,  is  ( wo  millings  and  eight-pence  fer  barrel.     Dr. 
Anderfon  has  blended  under  one-  of  thefe  article;,    "  herrings  and  bard  f.jh  e 
"  from  vo  thoufand  pounds."      Hard    fifli  had  no  bufinefs  IrV  a   Pa 

about  herrings  ;  and  fome  dec*u£tio*i  uom  the  fum  total,  fhould  te  made  pn  a 
m. 

'    -     •  ■    '.    •  '     -  .    -  '  . 
ff     UMler/ of  tht  Pu<  ae,     part.  III.  chap.  6 


(    6.    ) 

Lr ought  forward  -  12600 

The  knight  raarifchal  -  ^qo 

The  (ignet-office  is  a  difeB  tax  upon  the  public,  and  it 

now  nets  to  the  keeper,  Mr.  Dundas  -        3000 

The    fafine-orbce,  the  fees  of  which  are  a  iecond  dirccl 
tax,   nets  to  its  keeper  about  two  thoufand  pounds, 
befides  a  falary  from  government,  of  two  hun- 
dred more  -  2200 


18,26 


do 


Every  one  of  thefe  places  is  an  abfolute  finecure,  the  duties 
pf  which  are  not  diicharged  by  the  perfons  who  receive  the 
monev.  Some  of  them  have  nothing  toco,  but  in  every  cne 
of  them,  where  bufinefs  is  really  tranfacted,  the  deputies  are 
paid  over  and  above,  and  fometimes  very  extravagantly,  at 
iif  additional  cxpaice.  of  the  public.  The  total  charge  to  the 
nation,  for  thefe  ten  bubbles,  extends,  as  above  ipecibed,  to 
eighteen  thoufand,  two  hundred  and  fixty  pounds  fjerling pes, 
annum.  Thus  hath  one  part  of  us  been  loaded  with  the  plun- 
der of  the  reir.  Thus.are  fix  or  eight  hundred  thoufand  Scots 
people  kept  in  r>  fcate  of  comparative  beggary,  by  the  payment 
of  fait  and  coal  duties,  while  fix  or  eight  folitary  pensioners 
riot  on  the  robbery  of  the  poor. 

"  A  kalf-Jlarved  Highland  woman  frequently  bears  mere 
tl  than  twenty  children,  while  a  pampered  fine  lady  is  often 
ii  incapable  of  bearing  any. — But  poverty,  though  it  does  not 
f*  prevent  the  generation,  is  extremely  unfavourable  to  the 
"  rearing  of  children.  It  is  not  uncommon,  I  have  been  fre- 
V  quently  told,  in  the  Highlands  of  Scotland,  for  a  mother 
et  who  has  born  twenty  children,  not  to  have  two  alive."* 
The  fum  of  this  palTage  is,  that  multitudes  of  the  children  of 
Scots  Highlanders  periih  of  hunger,  and  of  the  numerous  dif- 
tempers  that  follow  in  its  train.  1  he  monopoly  of  land,  the 
infancv  of  agriculture,  the  non-entity  of  manufactures,  with 
the  accurfed  fait  excite,  and  coal  duty,  form  the  fountain-head 
from  whence  thefe  waters  of  bitterneis  fiow. 

*  Smith's  Inquiry,  book  I.  chap.  Sth, 


(     *3     ) 


C     II     A     P.       Ill 


Reports  of  the  commifji  oners  of  public  accounts  — Crown  lands 
Aftonifhing  com  law  — firitifh famine  in  tit  reign  of  Wil- 
liam Third — Striking  picture  of  Scotch  wretched 'tafs  at  that 
pZtiod  — What  Scotland  might  have  bun  — War  in  general 
—Culloden  —The  bloody  DuU. 

'"T^IIE  practice  of  granting  enormous  penfons,  has  been 
J-  carried  infinitely  rarther  in  England,  than  on  the  north 
of  Tweed.  The  foil  is  richer,  and  the  weeds  of  corruption 
grow  ranker.  As  the  iubject  i^  but  imperfectly  underhood,  it 
may  be  worth  while  to  compare  the  Crobdignag  peculators  of 
London  with  the  Lilliputians  of  the  fame  bind  in  this  country. 
For  this  end,  we  may  coniult  a  curious  and  authentic  aiiein- 
blage  of  evidence  publifhed  by  parliament.  During  the  war 
with  America,  they  appointed  commiiiioncis  to  examine  the 
it-te  of  public  accounts,  a  he  olvice  was  performed  with  fideli- 
ty, and  the  reports  publifhed.  in  the  fixth  iepo:t,  we  learn, 
that  the  auditor  oi  the  exchequer  received,  in  the  year  1780, 
from  his  place,  a  clear  pi  oh:  of 
His  firft  clerk  - 
The  clerk  of  the  pells  -  .  - 
The  four  tellers  of  the  exchequer 
The  u-her  of  the  exchequer 

Total  to  eight  pcrfons,         £  57,833     4       o 

The  commliiioners  recommend  the  abolition  cf  this  laft  of- 
fice. They  Gbferve,  that  "  the  chief,  if  not  the  only  pre  lent 
*'  duty  of  the  uiher,  is  to  iupply  the  treafury  and  exchequer 
"  with  ftationary  and  turnery  ware,  and  a  variety  of  other  ar- 
11  tides,  and  the  exchequer  with  coals,  and  to  provide  work- 
V  men  for  certain  repairs."  In  17S0,  he  provided  articles  and 
repairs  to  the  amount  of  fourteen  thoufaud,  four  hundred  and 
forty  pounds,  three  fhillings  and  fix-pence.  On  the  articles, 
lie  was  entitled  to  the  very  moderate  commi;2hc-n  of  forty  per 
cent ;  fo  that  the  poll  mud,  from  the  firft  hour  of  its  existence, 
have  been  dehgned  as  a  job.  The  net  profits  were,  as  above 
ft  a  ted,  four  thoufand  guineas.  The  exacl.  fum  pocketed  by 
the  officers  and  clerks  of  exchequer,  in  178Q,  clear  of  all  de- 
ductions, was  feventy-five  thoufand,  eight  hundred  and  llxty- 
three  pounds,  nineteen  fhillings  and  three-pence,  three  thr- 
th:ngs,  fteriing.  The  report  fays,  that  in  this  year,  the  ineffec- 
tive officers  of  the  exchequer,  iece:\ed  iorty-jiuz  thov.  and, 
three  hundred. and  thirty -tea  bounds*     This  account  [3  too  ra- 


£14,015 

'4 

I 

->1j2 

Q 

0 

6 

-  7,597 

12 

0 

1-2 

29,2C7 

4 

4 

1-2 

-     4,200 

(    64    ) 

vourable.  We  have  juft  feen,  that  flfty-feven  thoufand,  eight 
hundred  and  thirty-three  pounds,  four  (hikings,  were  divided 
among  eight  peribns.  Of  rhefc,  the  only  man  of  bufinefs  is 
i.  ii.it  clerk  to  the  auditor,  and  even  he  has  a  falary  ten  times 
as  large  as  any  merchant  would  pay  to  a  mere  accoroptant. 
The  exchequer  contains  fcveral  other  clerks  with  considerable 
meorffcs.  The  four  hrit.  clerks  to  the  four  tellers,  received 
among  them,  in  1 780,  five  thoufand,  two  hundred  and  torty- 
one  pounds,  and  eight-pence  three  farthings.  From  this  ge- 
neral furvey,  it  may  be  lufpected,  that  the  whole  duties  of 
the    excheq  ;:r  might   be  performed   for  a   tenth   part   of  the 

:5  now  paid  ;  as  even,  by  (he  preferit  glimmering,  we  dif- 
lindtly  perceive,  that  icur-fkhs  of  the  above  ieventy-hve 
thoufand  pounds  are  ab  for  bed  in  firiecures.  In  time  of  peace, 
the  perqaakes  would  be  fomewhat  lefs,  but  the  labour  would 
be  lei's  in  proportion.  Fifteen  aeiive  clerks,  at  five  hundred 
pounds  fteriing  each,  could  finrdj  at  their  own  charges,  the  re- 
quifite  aihltants,  and  actually  perform  the  bufinefs.  This 
fimple  alteration  would,  in  178c,  have  laved  to  the  public, 
fixty-eight  thoufatid,  three  hundred  pounds.  The  lurge- 
neis  of  nomii  ies,  forms  but  the  fag-end  of  the  fiery. 

r  Rating  various  abufes,  the  report  ^oes  on  in  thefc 
words  : 

"  There  full  remain  to  be  made  up t  the  accounts  cf  four 
"  treafurers  of  tlie  navy,  to  the  amount  of  fifty-eight  millions, 
il  nine  hundred  and  foity-foUt  thoufand,  five  hundred  and 
.  ids,  and  of  three  paymafrers  general  of  the 
u  forces,  amounting  to  four  millions,  fix  hundred  and  f.xty- 
u  fix  thoufand,  eight  hundred  and  feventy-five  pounds,  exclu- 
"  five  of  the  treafurer  and  paymafter-geueral  in  office  ;  to  the 
u  firfl  of  whom  has  been  iflued,  to  the  .cih  of  September, 
*'  I'jSoyfixisen  millions  fJa  d  agh'y-one  thou  I  and \ 

"  two  hundred  and  feventeen  pounds,  and  to  the  latter,  to  the 
u  end  of  the  fame  year,  forty  1  ons,  two  hundred  and 

u  fifty-three  thoufand,  rune  hundred  and  eleven  pounds,  and 
"  not  one  year's  account  of  either  is  completed*  co  that,  of 
"  the  money  hiked  to  the  navy,  feventy-five  millions,  feven 
tl  hundred  and  twenty-Jive  thoufand,  eight  hundred  and  fire 
"pounds,  and  of  the  money  iflued  to  the  army, forty-fven 
"  millions,  nine  hundred  and  twenty  thou  find,  fe\  I  red 

tl  and  eighty  fix  pounds  ;  together,  one  hundred  and  twenty  ~ 
'*  tJirec  millions,  fix  hundred  and  forty.- fix  thoufand,  five  hun- 
u  dred  and  ninety-one  pounds,  (not  including  ten  millions,  fix 
u  hundred  and  forty  feven  thoufand,  one  hundred  and  eighty* 
"  eight  pounds,  iflued  to  the  navy,  and  eight  millions",  one  hun- 
u  dred  and  twenty-one  thoufand  pounds,  to  the  army,  to  the 
"  end  of  the  laitycar,)  is  as  yet  unaccounted  for."  Thefe 
various  fums  unaccounted   for,  amount,  in  the  whole,  to  one 


<    6 


hundred  and  forty -two  millions,  four  hundred  and  fourteen 
thou/and,  /even  hundred  and ftventy -nine pound s .  This  report 
is  dared  the  iith  of  February,  1782,  Lord  Holland,  pay- 
matter-general  of  the  forces,  fefigned  his  office  in  1705.  He 
had  received  near  fort\  -fix  millions  jlerhng.  His  final  account 
was  delivered  into  the  auditor's  office,  feveii  years  after  Lis  re- 
fignalion.  Compare  this  with  the  prolecution  in  ft  ant  fy  raifed 
againft  a  Scots  fisherman,  for  the  penalty  oi  a  fall  bond.  The 
balance  actually  in  the  hand  of  his  lordfhip,  when  he  loft  his 
place,  was  foil*  Hundred  and  fixty  thou/and  pounds.  The 
fourth  report  fays,  that  upon  the  30th  of  Septeinbcr,  1780, 
two  hundred  and  fifty-fix  tin  bounds  were  iti.il  due  to  the 

public  by  his  reprelentatives,  and  on  a  computation  of  fimple 
intereft,  at  four  per  cent,  per  annum,  that  the  lots  to  the  na- 
tion by  the  monev  left  in  his  hands,  was,  then,  two  hundred 
and  fort y -eight  thou/and,  tkrel  hundred  and  ninety-four  pox 
thirteen fhillings,  fizrling  ;  as  the  public  have  no  claim  for  the 
intereft  o[  monev  lodged  with  a  paymafier,  even  after  he  is 
diftniffetf*.  Thus  far  the  commiflioners  of  public  accounts. 
Now  think  of  the  prolecution  of  a  Shipwrecked  mariner  for 
the  duty  of  fix  buihels  of  bonded  laitf.  It  was  commonly  laid 
that  Mr.  Richard  Rigby,  a  late  payroafter  of  the  forces,  clear- 
ed annually,  feventy  thoufahd  pounds  from  his  orfice,  chiefly 
by  keeping  in  his  hands  immenle  funis  of  public  money. 
What  fignify  the  minnows  oi  Tvburn,  contracted  with  the 
leviathans  of  the  exchequer,  fporting  in  an  ocean  of  Seventeen 
millions  fterling  a  year  ?  On  the  wafte  of  public  money,  Ed- 
mund Burke  lpeaks  as  follows  :  M  It  is  impoifible  for  a  man  to 
u.  be  an  ceconomilt,  under  whom  various  officers,  in  their  fe- 
u  veral  departments,  may  fpend  even  iuft  what  they  pleafe, 
"  and  often  with  an  emulation  of  expence,  as  contributing  to 
"  the  importance,  if  not  profit,  of  their  feveral  departments. 
u  Thus  much  is  certain,  that  neither  the  prefent,  nor  any 
u  other  firlt  lord  of  the  treafury,  has  been  ever  able  to  take  a 
"  furvey,  or  to  make  even  a  tolerable  guess  of  the  expences  of 
"  government  for  any  one  vear  ;  io  as  to  enable  him,  with  :he 
"  leaft  degree  of  certainty,  or  even  probability,  to  bring  Lis. 
"  affairs  within  comoafs."^  And  again,  M  A  rVfteni  of  con- 
"  fuiion  remains,   which    is  not   only   alien   ;     -  'o  all 

"  oeconomv  ;   a  fyftetn,   which  is  not  o 

"  efftnee,  but  caufes  every  thin^-  elfe  which  belongs  to  it,   to  be 
"  prodigally  conducted. '"II 

*  Thel'e  report?  are  inferred  in  fnccetfive  volumes  of  the  New  Aanoal  R- 
A  farther  analyfis  of  lcrae  01  ;..ei.r  conierus  wUJ  ii£-t--'  La  :.".;  lecoiid  part  of  this 
%v  ork . 

:ra.  chap.  i. 
^  bp^cch  ou  io;r-ornlc3l  rei'orm.  Jj  Ibid. 


(    66     ) 

"  In  all  the  great  monarchiesof  Europe,  there  are  Hill  many 
"  large  traces  of  land  which  belong  to  the  crown.  They  are 
"  generally  fcreft  ;  and  ibmetiines  foreft,  vhere,  after  tra\el- 
"  ling  feveral  miles,  you  will  fcarce  find  a  /ingle  tree  ;  a  mere 
"  wafte  and  lofs  of  country  in  refpect  both  of  produce  and  po- 
"  pulation.  In  every  great  monarchy  of  Europe,  the  fale  of 
"  the  crown  lands  would*  produce  a  very  large  Jam  of  money. — 
"  The  crown  lands  of  Great  Britain  do  not,  at  preient,  afford 
"  the  fourth  part  of  the  rent  which  could  probablv  be  drawn 
"  from  thein,  if  they  were  the  property  of  private  perlons."* 
This  would  be  a  better  way  to  raife  money,  than  by  taxing 
fhopkeepers,  pedlars,  and  fervant  maids.  It  has  been  com- 
puted that  the  crown  lands  of  Britain  could  be  railed  in  their 
value,  by  fetting  them  on  proper  leaies,  or  bv  felling  them  off 
entirely,  to  a  rent  of  four  hundred  thoufand  pounds  a  year, 
more  than  their  prefent  value  ;  but  it  would  be  hazardous  to 
warrant  this  vague  estimation. 

When  lb  great  a  part  of  the  revenues  and  refources  of  a  na- 
tion are  thus  miferably  c^lt  away,  there  mud  be  fomewherc  in 
the  fame  political  body,  a  large  proportion  of  diflrefs.  Accord- 
ingly, Dr.  Davenant  computes,  that  twelve  hundred  thoufand 
people  in  England  receive  a!ms.\  Dr.  Goldfniith,  in  hisHif- 
tory  of  Animated  Nature,  gives  a  calculation,  that  in  London, 
two  thoufand  perfons  die  every  year  of  hunger.  Dr.  Johnfon 
fays,  that  in  1739,  the  jails  of  England  contained  twenty 
thoufand  prifoners  for  debt.|  He  conjectures,  that  five  tbou- 
fand  of  theie  debtors  perifhed  annually  in  prifon.  Dr.  Wen- 
deborn  ftates,  as  a  wonted  computation,  that  London  contains 
forty  thoufand  common  proftitutes.  It  fhelters  fome  thoufands 
o  highwaymen,  pick-pockets,  and  fwindlersof  all  kinds,  who 
gain  a  regular  fubfiftence  by  the  exercife  of  their  talents. 
Thefe  are  the  natural  confequence  of  crown  lauds  lying  wafte, 
and  of  an  hundred  and  forty-two  millions  ftei  ling  unaccounted 
for.  In  fuch  a  condition,  we  give  an  hundred  and  eighty  thou- 
fand pounds  (terling,  at  a  fingle  dafh,  to  pay  the  debts  of  a 
thoughtlefs  young  man.  In  Holland  and  Switzerland,  beg- 
gars, and  prifoners  for  debt,  are  much  left  numerous  than  in 
England,  becaufe  the  Dutch  and  the  Swils  are  more  wife, 
more  happy,  and,  to  all  rational  purpofes,  more  free,  than  the 
Bri'ith  nation.  "  There  was  not,  when  Mr.  Howard  vifitcd 
"  Holland,  more  than  one  prifoner  for  debt  in  the  great  city 
"  of  Rotterdam. "||      If    half    the    panegyrics   pronounced    by 

*  Inquiry  into  the  nature  and  caufes  of  the  Wealth  of  Nations,  book  v.  chap.  a. 
Part  I. 

f  Sketches  of  the  Hiftory  of  Man.    Vol.  I.  p.  479. 

X  Idler,  No.  38.  The  author  adds,  in  a  note,  that  fince  firft  wriiing,  he  had  found 
reafon  toqueftion  the  calculation. 

|j  Burke's  fpeech  at  Brillol,  on  the  6th  of  September,   1780. 


(    67    ) 

Britons  upon  themfehes  are  true,  genius  and  virtue  can 
very  feldom  be  found  bevond  the  limits  of  this  blefled  iiland. 
As  to  civil  liberty,  an  Englifh  writer,  on  that  fubject,  begins 
by  fuppofing,  that  it  is  confined  exclufively  to  the  Britilh  do- 
minions. 

From  thefe  mifcellarieous  remarks,  we  proceed  to  the  corn 
law,  lately  palTed.  No  part  of  our  political  fvftem  has  been 
an  object  of  more  clamorous  applaufe  than  the  bounty  granted 
by  parliament  on  the  exportation  of  Britilh  grain.  It  is  laid 
that  this  bounty  was  an  encouragement  efTentially  requifite  for 
the  irittereft  of  the  farmers,  becaufe,  without  it,  they  would 
not  venture  to  raife  a  fufncient  quantity  of  corn  for  home  con- 
fumption.  By  gixing  a  bounty  on  exporting  it,  the  farmers 
were  always  certain  of  a  market  ;  and  it  was  fuppofed,  that, 
but  for  the  profpect  of  this  reiburce,  thev  would  very  often 
forbear  to  raiie  it.  The  profound  policy  of  this  expedient  has 
been  extolled  by  Lord  Kaims,  by  Sir  John  Dalrymple,  and  by 
a  crowd  of  other  writers,  whole  very  names  would  fill  a  fheet 
of  paper.  Orhers  confider  the  bounty  on  exporting  coin,  as 
one  of  the  molt  formidable  engines  of  oppreffion,  that  the  lan- 
ded tntereji  has  ever  discharged  on  the  rights  of  mankind.  The 
more  that  the  principles  of  Biitifh  policy  are  examined,  the 
more  mail  we,   like  Rochelier,  be  convinced,  that, 

"  Dutch  prowef*,  Dan'.fli  -wit,   and  Brh'fh  Policy, 
"  G:t-a    Nothing!   mainly  tend  to  thee," 

The  empites  of  Jap^.n  and  China  are  much  better  cultivated 
than  the  Britim  Iilands.  They  know  nothing  of  any  fuch 
bounty.  Ancient  bgvpt,  and  likewife  Hindoftan,  before  the 
Eaft-Iudla  company  had  defhoyed  thirty-fix  millions  of  its 
inhabitants,  were  examples  of  the  fame  kind.  In  thefe  coun- 
tries, and  others  that  might  be  named,  agriculture  has  advanced 
to  high  perfection  ;  while,  at  the  fame  time,  the  farmers  of 
England  mutt  be  bribed  to  the  plough.  Triere  appears  an 
aWurdity  on  the  very  face  of  this  fuppohtion  ;  for  it  is  as 
reafonable  to  fay,  that  the  people  of  Britain  cannot,  like  the 
J  paneie,  walk  without  crutches,  as  that  their  farmers  will 
not,  like  thole  of  Japan,  raife  as  much  corn  as  they  can, 
uuies  they  are  hired  to  it  bv  the  ftate.  Dr.  Smith,  in  his 
Inquiry  ;nto  the  Wealth  of  Nations,  hath  combated  this  corn 
bounty.  Poftiethwaite  alio,  in  his  dictionary,  has  a  pallage 
to  the  fame  purpofe  ;  and  as  the  bulk  of  his  book  may  have 
prevented  fome  people  f:om  redding  it  quite  through,  we  fhall 
extract  a  few  remarks  on  the  corn   laws. 

"  There  is  no  complaint  more  common  amongour  merchants, 
11  than  tiiat  foreigners  underwork  us  in  almoit  every  kind  of 
"  manufacture  ;  and  can  we  be  furprifed  at  it  ?  when  the  gene- 
"  ral  tendency  of  our  laws,    is  to  make  labour  dear  at  home, 


(    68    ) 

"  and  cheap  abroad;  when  we  either  forbid  our  people  to 
"  work,  or  oblige  them  to  work  in  the  moil  difadvantageous 
"  manner  ;  when  we  lay  all  our  taxes  on  trade,  or,  which  is 
"  (till  worfe  for  trade,  on  the  neceffaries  of  life ;  and  when  we 
"  contrive  to  feed  the  labourers,  manufacturers,  and  ieamen 
"  of  foreign  countries,  with  our  corn  at  a  cheaper  rate  than 
"  our  own  people  can  have  it !  To  raife  the  price  of  corn  at 
"  home,  in  whatever  manner  it  is  done,  is  the  lame  thing  as 
*'  to  lay  a  tax  on  the  confumption  of  it  ;  and  to  do  that  in 
"  fuch  a  manner  as  leiVens  the  pi  ice  of  it  abroad,  is  to  apply 
"  this  tax  to  the  benefit  of  foreigners."*  The  bounty  paid  by 
law  on  the  exportation  of  corn,  hath,  by  one  account,  amount- 
ed, in  a  fingle  year,  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  thouland  pounds. f 
By  another  account,  "  the  bounty  upon  corn  alone  has  iome- 
*'  times  coft  the  public  in  one  year,  more  than  three  hundred 
*'  thoufand  pound s."% 

Weekly  accounts  of  the  average  prices  of  corn,  in  different 
parts  of  Britain,  are  publifhed  by  authority  of  parliament. 
Before  we  examine  the  law  fo  lately  pait  on  this  head,  it  is 
proper  to  look  into  thefe  weekly  reports.  We  fhal  thus  learn 
upon  what  fort  of  infoimation  the  legillature  wer*t,  and  how 
far  they  were  qualified,  by  a  previous  acquaintance  with  the 
flate  of  the  corn  trade,  to  make  laws  concerning  it. 

For  the  county  of  Northumberland,  there  were  two  returns 
of  average  prices  of  oat-meal,  during  the  week  which  ended  on 
the  28th  of  April,  1792.  A  boll  weighs  an  hundred  and  forty 
pounds  avoirdupois.  At  Hexham,  in  Northumberland,  the  pr.ce 
of  a  boll  was  faid  to  be  twenty  eight  millings  and  eight  pence. 
At  Berwick  upon  Tweed,  in  the  fame  county,  and  at  the  dif- 
tance  of  no  more  than  fixty  miles,  the  average  price,  at  the 
fame  time,  was  only  eleven  Jloillings  and  nine-pence.  If  thefe  ac- 
counts of  prices  were  accurate,  it  would  have  been  an  excel- 
lent trade  to  tranfport  corn  from  Berwick  to  Hexham,  where 
it  would  give  more  than  double  the  fame  price.  An  hundred 
pounds  employed  in  this  way,  mull  have  returned  a  clear  profit 
of  an  hundred  and  forty-four  and  two-fevenths  per  cent,  fub- 
tra&ing  only  the  expence  of  carriage.  The  medium  is  (truck 
between  thefe  two  rates,  and  twenty  millings  and  twc-pcnce 
per  boll,  is  returned  as  the  average  price  of  oat-meal,  for  the 
county  of  Northumberland.  No  body  will  believe,  or  pretend 
to  believe,  that  both  thefe  reports  are  genuine.  It  is  very  likely 
that  both  are  untrue.  There  is  a  conftant  intercourfe  between 
Hexham  and  Berwick,  and  the  feverai  prices,  in  every  part  of 
the  country,  are  invariably  and  univerfally  known.    To   fancy 

*  Dictionary,  vol.  i.  p.  560. 

f  Sketches  ot   the  friiflory  of   Man,  vol.  T.  p.  ^)7. 

%  Smith's  inquiry,  Bock  4th.  chap.   5th. 


(    c9    ) 

then  fuch  a  difference  in  the  rate  of  corn,  is  like  believing  that 
the  water  collected  behind  a  dam  will  keep  at  its  former  height, 
when  the  dam  itfetf  hath  been  removed.  The  phyfical  abfurdity 
of  the  one  fuppofition,  is  not  greater  than  the  moral  abfurdity 
of  the  other.  In  the  fame  week,  a  boil  of  oat-meal,  at  Berwick, 
in  this  very  county  of  Northumberland,  is  itated,  bv  the  weekly 
report,  at  three  pounds,  two  fhillings  and  fix-pence.  Thus,  by 
carrying  oat-meai  from  the  one  Berwick  to  the  other,  a  profit 
might  have  been  gained  of  more  than  four  hundred  per  cent. 
The  following  are  the  prices  in  the  reports  of  the  feme  week, 
for  fome  other  places.  For  Weftmoreland,  fourteen  fhillings 
and  feven-pence  ;  for  Herefordihire,  fifty-five  {hillings  and  two- 
pence •,  in  Lancafter,  fourteen  fhillings  and  eleven-pence  ;  in 
Salop,  fifty  (hillings  and  eleven-pence  ;  in  Chefter,  fifteen  fhil- 
lings and  a  penny  ;  in  Bedfordfhire,  fifty  fh'lltngs  and  feven- 
pence.  Thefe  reports,  publifhed  by  the  perfons  acting  under 
parliament,  are  of  equal  authenticity  with  Robinfon  Crufoe. 
-Yet,  as  we  fhall  immediately  perceive,  the  fubliftence  of  mil- 
lions of  people  may  depend  on  the  accuracy  of  thefe  identical 
weekly  reports.* 

The  new  corn  law  commenced  its  operations,  on  the  15th 
of  November,  179 1 .  In  every  ftage  it  had  received  an  obfbinate 
cppofition.  On  one  claufe,  a  committee  of  the  houfe  of  com- 
mons were  equally  divided,  fixty-two  on  each  fide,  and  the 
vote  of  the  chairman  decided  againft  it.  The  act,  as  now  putx- 
liihed,  fills  eighty-four  folio  pages  of  confufion  and  repetition.f 
By  the  aifiitance  of  fome  gentlemen,  I  have  been  enabled  to 
form  an  analyfis  of  a  part  of  its  contents. 

The  maritime  country  of  England  and  Wales,  is  by  this  Jaw, 
divided  into  twelve  diilricls  ;  and  all  Scotland  into  four.  To 
Amplify  the  dilcumon  as  much  as  pomblev.  let  us  confine  our- 
felves  at  prefent,  to  the  firft  of  the  four  diftriclis  of  Scotland.  It 
comprehends  the  counties  of  Fife,  Kinrofs,  Clackmannan, 
Stirling,  Linlithgow,  Edinburgh,  Hadington,  Berwick,  Rox- 
burgh, Selkirk,  and  Peebles.  Suppofmg  that  a  fcarcity  of  pro- 
vifions  ihould  prevail  in  the  fhire  oi'  Edinburgh,  wheat,  for  in- 
ftance  cannotbe  importedintoit  from  any  other  diilrict of  Britain, 
till  the  average  prices  of  wheat  have  been  afcertained  over  the 
eleven  counties  -with  which  it  forms  a  diftricf .  It  muft  be  prov- 
ed, to  the  fatisfaction  of  the  fheriff*  depute  of  the  county,  that 
the  average  price  of  wheat  is  fifty  fhillings  per  quarter  ;  for,  if 
it  is  imported,  when  the  price  is  lower  than  that  fum,  there  is 
a  duty  on  the  importation,  of  twenty-four  fhillings  and  three- 

*  Thefe  particulars  of  the  weekly  reports  were  firfl  published  by  Dr.  An- 
derfon,  in  the  Bee,  vol.  ix.  p.  go, 

f  The  remark  of  Lord  Thurlow,  above  quoted,  was  perfectly  juft.  Many 
an  a<ft  of  parliament,  would,  as  a  compolkion,  difgrace  fcbool-boys. 


(     7°     ) 

pence,  which  is  equivalent 'to  a  prohibition.  But  though  the 
public  fhould  really  be  flarving,  and  wheat  extravagantly  clear, 
the  real  price  of  it  can  only  be  afcertained  to  the  meriff  depute, 
by  thefe  weekly  returns  above  ftated.  This  is  the  exprefs  injunc- 
tion of  the  itatute,  and  thefe  identical  returns  are  of  as  much 
actual  authority  as  the  croaking  of  a  parrot. 

i  -ow  it  nunc  he  obferved,  that  in  this  hruY  ScottiQi  dHtricT:, 
fertile  and  barren  counties  are  injudiciouily  clailed  together. 
Of  the  eleven  above-mentioned,  only  Fife,  Edinburgh  and 
Hadington  produce  in  general  good  grain.  That  of  the  other 
eight  counties  is  ofren  at  the  rate  of  ten  or  twelve  millings  per 
boll,  when  the  grain  of  Fife,  or  Edinburgh,  fells  at  eighteen 
{hillings.  Put  the  cafe  then,  that  the  wheat  of  Edinburgh  ha* 
rifen  to  fifty  ihiliings,  and  an  importation  is  wanted  from  a  fo- 
reign country.  "  No, "  fays  the  fherifr  depute  of  the  county* 
"  The  grand  broker  of  Wcitminfler  elections,  viz.  the  heava.- 
"  born  minifter9  the  jockey  peers  of  Newmarket,  with  proxies 
u  in  their  pockets,  and  the  porkct-'jl  representatives  of  St. 
<c  Mawes  and  Old  Sarum,  have  ordered  things  better.  They 
"have  debated  and  fcolded  amoi  g  themfelves,  upon  this  fub- 
*<  jecl,  for  three  months.  By  two  majorities  of  ten  or  fifteen 
"  votes  out  of  eight  hundred,  they  have  produced  a  permanent 
"  corn  ac~t,  an  act  of  which  they  boaft,  as  the  ma(b:r-piece  cf 
f<  legislation.  Seven  entire  Jlatutes  have  been  repealed  to  make 
**  room  for  it.  This  laconic  law  has  three  or  fj ur  hundred 
"  ciaufes,  which  Oedipus  could  not  have  expl  lined,  and  Sirho- 
*'  nides  could  not  have  remembered.  By  one  of  thefe  arti 
—5'  you  are  not  to  import  wheat,  though  you  may  be  ftarving 
"  for  want  of  it,  till  the  wheat  of  Peebles  and  Clackmannan, 
(s  has  mounted  from  its  prefent  rate  of  thirty  fhillingsyw-  quar- 
"  ter,  up  to  forty.  By  that  time,  )our  own  mud  have  rifen  to 
"Jixty.  We  (hall  then  ftrike  the  medium,  and  fuffer  you  to  irri- 
"  port  it  for  a  duty  of  half  a  crown  per  quarter.  You  need 
*•'  not  grumble.  The  people  of  Orkney  and  Shetland  are  infi- 
<f  nitely  worfe  off.  Among  them,  an  ear  o:  corn  is  an  object 
u  of  aftonifhment  ;  and  it  is  as  much  inferior  in  quality  to  that; 
"  of  Peebles,  as  the  latter  is  inferior  to  yours.  You  are  per- 
"  mitcd  to  import  oats  when  yours  rife  to  feventeen  (hillings 
**  per  quarter,  for  a  duty  of  only  one  milling,  which  goes  to 
"  make  up  the  half  guinea  per  day  to  Weftrhinfler  bjiidgeon- 
"  men,  and  the  four  thoufand  guineas  per  annum  to  the  uiher 
<•  of  the  exchequer.  But  when  the  oats  of  Orkney,  are  //;///;- 
"  rially  at  feventeen  ihiliings,  they  are  in  reality  dearer  than 
if  yours,  when  at  twenty-live  or  thirty  fhiilings.  In  a  word,  you 
««  are  gracioufly  permitted  to  eat  bread,  perhaps  a  third  part 
"  cheaper,  than  thofe  beggarly  iflanders.  Mark  the  fuperior  fe- 
m  iicity    of    your  fituation  ;  and   let    your    hearts    glow  with 


(     7i     ) 

"  gratitude  to  the  bell  of  princes."  The  admiring  citizens  hear 
their  magiftrate  with  filent  rapture,  and  blefs  their  ftars  that 
they  were  born  under  the  Britlih  constitution.  >  .  B.  His 
Lordfliip,  notwithstanding  his  conltitutional  good  nature,  had 
iult  then  endured  five  or  fix  of  them  to  be  (hot,  in  honour  of 
his  majefty's  birth-day.* — The  fallacy  of  the  corn  returns  has 
already  been  mentioned,  and  we  perceive  what  infinite  mifchief 
they  may  poffibly  commit.  The  wheat  in  the  county  of  Edin- 
burgh may  be  returned  at  twenty-five  millings  per  quarter, 
when  the  real  price  is  fifty  or  fixty,  and  thus  importation  may 
be  prevented. 

There  is  another  circumftance  in  this  law  that  deferves  ar- 
tention.  The  wheat,  oats,  and  barley  of  England  are,  in  qua- 
lify, far  fuperior  to  ours.  This  is  well  known  to  every  baker  and 
brewer.  At  this  moment,  Edinburgh  brewers  are  buying  Eng- 
liiii  barley  at  eight  millings  per  boll  higher  than  is  given  tor  bar- 
ley of  Scots  produce,  taking  the  prices  of  the  different  counties 
at  a  medium.  The  former  is  of  fuperior  value,  by  the  proportion 
of  fifteen  or  eighteen  to  ten. 

In  Kent,  Norfolk,  and  the  other  counties  of  England,  fubieor. 
to  this  law,  the  wheat  is  twenty-five  per  cent-  better  than  that  of 
Scotland.  To  make  the  ftatute  equitable,  therefore,  the  people 
of  North-Britain  ought  to  have  imported  wheat,  when  it  was 
at  forty  (hillings  per  quarter,  while  England  mould  not  have 
been  allowed  an  importation,  till  Englifo  wheat  had  riien  to 
fifty  millings.  "  This  is  what  a  wife  and  virtuous  miniftry  would 
"  have  done  and  faid.  This,  therefore,  is  what  our  ministers 
"  could  never  think  of  faying  or  doing."-!-  Engiiih  grain,  of  all 
kinds,  ought  to  have  been  rated,  for  the  licence  of  importation, 
at  twenty  or  twenty-five  per  cent,  higher  than  Scots  grain.  The 
plain  meaning  of  the  law  is,  th^t  the  people  of  Scotland  mull 
eat  their  b^ead  dearer  by  twenty-ijiye  per  cent,  than  Eiigiifnmen 
eat  theirs.  That  is  the  true  intent  and  meaning  of  this  corn  law. 
Every  dealer  in  grain  will  tell  you;  on  a  minuce's  warning,  that 
he  does  not  underfland  this  ftatute  ;  and  chat  he  never  heard  of 
any  body,  who  could  fateiy  undercake  to  decypher  thefc  eighty- 
four  folio  pages,  about  the  terms  upon  which  we  are  to  he  per- 
mitted to  buy  our  bread.  When  the  corn  merchants  of  Leith 
found  part  of  the  law  totally  beyond  their  comprehenfion,  they 
applied  to  the  cuftoni-houfe  officers,  who  frankly  declared  that 
they  were  not  able  to  explain  it.  In  this  way  a  heaven-born  mi- 
nifter  manages  the  bufinefs  G^zfree  nation. 

If  a  Swifs,  or  a  North- American,   were  to  read  this  account, 
he  would  certainly  conclude  that  Britain  is  inhabited  oniy  by  two 

*  In  Charks-flreet,  George's-fquare.  They  had  been  burning  an  <-ffigy  oi 
ft  raw. 
f  Burke's  fpeech  on  the  creditors  of  the  Nabob  of  Arcct. 


(     72     ) 

kinds  of  people,  (laves  and  mad-men.  Dr.  Anderfon  gives  a  juft 
idea  of  this  itatute  of  defolation.  "  By  the  late  corn  act,  it  is  in 
"  the  power  of  any  cultom-houfe  officer  Rationed  there,  (in  the 
*  Highlands  or  Hebrides,)  to  ftarve  nearly  half  a  million  of  peo- 
u  pie  for  want  of  food,  almolt  when  he  pleafes.  *"  It  would  re- 
quire an  uncommon  degree  of  penetration,  to  determine  whe- 
ther the  authors  of  this  act  are  fitteft  for  bedlam  or  the  Old- 
Bailey.  If  the  moil  inveterate  enemies  to  human  happinefs,  had 
confulttd  for  ages  together,  they  could  not  have  devifed  a  more 
decifive  method,  than  by  this  bill,  for  reducing  the  labouring  part 
of  the  Scots  nation  to  the  lait  extremity  of  poverty  and  wre^ch- 
ednefs. 

With  regard  to  the  probable  confequences  of  this  corn  law, 
hereafter,  we  may  judge  of  the  future  by  the  paft.  "  During 
"  fome  years  previous  to  the  peace  of  Ryfwick,  (which  was  con- 
"  eluded  in  1697,)  tne  Pr^ce  °f  corn  m  England  was  double^  and 
"  in  Scotland  quadruple  its  ordinary  rate  ;  and  in  one  of  thefe 
*c  years,  it  was  believed,  that  in  Scotland  eighty  thou/and  people 
w  died  of  ivant."\  A  tenth  part  of  the  expence  of  one  of  the 
Britifh  campaigns  in  Flanders,  would  have  averted  from  this 
illand  fo  dreadful  a  calamity.  In  Aberdeenfhire,  the  confequences 
of  this  famine  may  ftill  be  traced.  Whole  families  expired  to- 
gether, and  the  boundaries  of  deferted  farms  were  forgotten. 
To  ascertain  them  is,  at  this  day,  fometirnes  an  object  of  dis- 
pute. The  land  bears  the  marks  of  the  plough  ;  but,  having  been 
fo  long  neglected,  has  relapfed  into  its  original  Rate  of  barren- 
ness ;  and  is  now  covered  with  heath,  among  which  may  be  dis- 
covered the  remains  of  the  dweiiing-houies  of  the  exterminated 
inhabitants.  Thefe  extraordinary  circumftances  have  not  been 
obferved  by  any  former  writer.  They  were  related  to  me  by  Dr. 
Anderfon,  who  has  an  eftate  in  the  county  of  Aberdeen.  We 
may  be  perfuaded,  that  in  the  other  years  of  this  famine,  at  lead 
twenty  thoufand  additional  perfons  perimed  of  hunger  ;  fo  that 
this  reckoning  of  extirpation  amounts  altogether  to  one  hundred 
thoufand  lives. 

The  blemngs  that  poured  upon  this  country  in  confequence 
of  the  Dutch  revolution,  afford  inceflant  exultation  in  the  pages 
of  our  hiftorians.  The  war  of  1689,  "  which  grew  out  of  the  re- 
M  volution ,"1  may  be  termed  the  firft  initalment  of  the  price  of 
that  event.  The  remedy  was  like  breaking  a  jaw-bone  to  remove 
the  tooth-ach.  Some  authors  mention  this  war  with  as  much 
tranquility,  as  if  it  had  begun  and  ended  by  the  mooting  of 
a  crow.  Notice  how  George  Chalmers,  efquire,  walks  on 
velvet  over  this  fubject.  "  The  infuk  offered  to  the  fovcreignty 

*  Bee,  vol.   xi.  p.  34. 

f  Memoirs  of  Great-Britain  and  Ireland,  part  III.  book  J. 
mr.  Chalmers,  p.  107. 


(     73     ) 

**  of  England,  by  giving  an  nfyhnn  to  an  abdicated  monarch,  and 
"  by  difputing  the  right  of*  a  high-minded  nation  to  regulate  its 
"  oivn  affairs^  forced  king  Wrffiam  into  an  eight-years  war  with 
"  France.  PreiTed  thus- by  tteteffify,  he  could  not  weigh  in  very 
"  icrupulous  icaies  the  wealth  of  his  fubjects,  againit  the  fu- 
*«  perior  opulence  of  his  too  potent  rival.  Yet  animated  by  ins 
"  charaefceriftic  magnanimity,  fo  worthy  of  hnxtattonx  and  iup- 
"  ported  by  the  zeal  of  a  people,  whole  refources  were  not 
"  then  equal  to  their  ardour  and  bravery,  he  engaged  in  an  ar- 
"  duous  difpute,  for  the  moil  honourable  end  ;  ihe  vindication 
u  of  the   independence  oi    a  great  kingdom."* 

On  the  common  principles  of  hofpitality,  the  king  of  France 
could  not  have  been  julliried  in  refufmg  a  refuse  to  the  exiled 
king  of  England.  Mr.  Chalmers  will  not  lay  that  Lewis  mould 
hive  delivered  up  James  to  William,  who  was  very  far  from  de- 
ilring  (o  dangerous  a  captive.  But  it  was  wrong,  perhaps,  to 
attend  him  an  afylum  ?  James  mud  have  retired  iomewhere,  and, 
on  the  fame  principles,  the  Englifh  nation  might  have  iuccef- 
iively  declared  war  againfl  Spain,  Sweden,  Denmark,  Turkey, 
and  every  other  government  in  the  world,  where  he  might  be 
permitted  to  refide.  It  would  have  been  much  better  for  the  peo- 
ple of  England  to  behead  James  at  once,  than  thus  meaniv  to 
hunt  him  around  Europe  Britain  was  not,  at  that  time,  in  a  fi- 
tuation  to  fupport  a  war  of  eight  years  againit  France.  The 
preceding  account  of  the  famine,  proves  that  fhe  was  not ;  and 
that  the  conduct,  of  William,  in  commencing  this  quarrel,  was 
mod  unworthy  of  imitation.  As  Mr.  Chalmers  hath  fpoke  of  a 
high-minded  nation,  and  the  neceihty  of  vindicating  its  indepen- 
dence^ which,  by  the  way,  the  king  of  France  never  attemp  ed 
to  difpute,  we  may  perufe  the  following  account  of  the  condi- 
tion to  which  Scotland  had  been  reduced  at  the  termination  of 
this  conteft. 

**  The  frrft  thing  which  I  humbly  and  carncftly  propofe  to  that 
"  honourable  court,  (of  parliament)  is,  that  they  would  take 
"  into  their  confideration,  the  condition  of  fo  many  thoufands  of 
"  our  people,  who  are,  at  this  d'ay,  dying  fir  luant  of bread.  And 
"  to  perfuade  them,  ferioufly  to  apply  therrifelves  to  fo  indifpen- 
*  fible  a  duty,  they  have  all  the  inducements  which  thole  moil 
«  powerful  emotions  of  the  foul,  terror  and  companion,  can 
•«  produce.  Becaufe,  from  unwholefome  food,  difeafes  are  fo 
"  multiplied  among  the  poor  people,  that  if  fome  courfe  be  not 
%i  taken,  this  famine  may  very  probably  be  followed  by  a  p'ague ; 
"  and  then,  what  man  is  there,  even  of  thofe  who  lit  in  parlia- 
"  ment,  that  can  be  fure  he  fhall  efcape  ?  And  what  man  is 
"  there  in  this  nation,  if  he  have  any  companion,  who  mult  not 

*  Eftijiytfe,  &c.  p.  t  .  - 


(     74     ) 

"  grud?e  himfelf  every  nice  bit,  and  every  delicate  morfel  he 
"  puts  in  his  mouth,  when  he  confiders  that  fo  many  are  alrea- 
c<  dy  dead,  and  fo  many  at  that  minute  Jlruggling  with  deaths  not 
ic  for  want  of  bread,  but  of  grains,  which!  am  credibly  inform- 
"  edj  have  been  eaten  by  fome  families,  even  during  the  preced- 
"  ing  years  of  fcai  city."  In  another  part  of  this  eilay,  the  writer 
informs  us,  tliat  "  there  are,  at  this  day,  in  Scotland,  (be 

great  many  poor  families,  very  meanly  provided  for  by  the 
"  church  boxes,  with  others,  who,  by  living  upon  bad  fcod, 
"  fall  into  various  dilfeafes,)  two  hundred  thouft  nd  ging 

"  from  door  to  door."  In  a  preceding  dif  he  writer  i.iys, 

that  there  had  been  '"«  a  three-years  fcarcity ;"  fo  that  in  the 
whole,  this  great  calamity  muft  have  continued  for  at  leaft  four 
years,  and,  perhaps,  for  a  longer  time.  In  169;,  juft  as  the  fa- 
mine was  about  its  commencement,  Mr.  Psterfon  propofed  to 
the  people  of  Scotland,  his  fcheme  for  founding  a  colony  on  the 
ifthmus  of  Darien.  "  Almoft  in  an  inftant,  four  hundred  thou- 
tl  fund  pounds  were  fubferibed  in  Scotland,  although  it  be  now 
"  known,  that  there  was  not,  at  that  time,  above  eight  hundred 
"  thoufand  pounds  of  cam  in  the  kingdom. "f  Various  obftacles 
prevented  the  firft  colony  from  failing  irom  Leith  to  the  Weft- 
Indies,  till  the  26th  of  July,  1698.  The  Scots  fquandered  about 
five  hundred  thoufand  pounds  Iterling  on  this  fcheme,  while 
thoufands  of  their  countrymen  were  dying  at  home  of  hunger, 
and  while  two  hundred  thoufand  others  were  begging  from  door 
to  door.  This  was  iike  a  perfon  without  a  fhirt  to  his  back,  pre- 
tending to  bid  for  a  coach  and  fix.  A  fwarm  of  authors  agree  in 
lamenting  the  deftruction  of  the  Scots  cuiony.  They  mould  like- 
have  lamented  the  felly  of  our  grandfathers  in  attempting 
to  found  it.  v-.  r.  Chalmers  may  admire,  as  much  as  he  pleafes, 
the  magnanimity  of  William,  and  a  high-minded  nation.  Scotland, 
with  two  hundred  thoufand  beggars  fhivering  in  her  bofom,  had 
very  little  tempcation  to  interfere  in  Dutch  or  Englifh  quarrels. 
Indeed,  this  notion  of  forcing  all  your  neighbours  to  admit  your 
title  to  a  crown,  is  a  refinement  of  modern  policy.  Calhbcllanus 
gave  himfelf  no  concern  whether  Boduognatus,  or  Vercingen- 
torix,  acknowledged  his  claim  to  the  throne  of  the  Trinobantes. 
Much  noife  has  been  made  about  the  maflacre  of  Glenco,  and 
the  tragedy  of  Darien.  This  famine  was  a  difafler  infinitely  more 
terrible  than  thefe,  yet  it  has  been  recorded  with  far  lefs  clamor- 
ous lamentation.  By  the  greater  part  of  the  hiftorians  of  that  pe- 
riod, no  notice  whatever  has  been  bellowed  upon  it.  Yet,  if 
"William  the  third,  his  minifters,  and  his  parliaments,  had  been 
penetrable  to  human  feelings,  they  would  have  put  an  end  to 

*  Second  difcourfe  on  the  affairs  of  Scotland,  by  Mr.  Fletcher  of  Saltoun, 
■written  in  1698. 

f  Memoirs  of  Great-Britain  and  Ireland,  part  111.  book  6th. 


(     75     ) 

the  war,  for  the  fake  of  putting  an  end  to  the  famine.  They 
might  have  done  fo  on  the  molt  honourable  terms.  Had  Wil- 
liam accepted  the  offers  of  Louis,  "  the  war  of  the  firft  grand 
"  alliance  would  have  ended  four  years  fooner  than  it  did,  and  the 
"  war  of  the  fecond  grand  alliance  might  have  been  prevented''* 
If  anv  circumttance  can  add  to  the  folly  and  the  guilt  of  William, 
it  is  this.  He  was  almoft  constantly  beaten  by  Louis  in  the 
field  ;  and  by  the  peace  itfelf,  none  of  the  parties  gained  one 
penny  of  money,  or  almolt  one  foot  of  territory.  Yet  Sir  John 
Dairymple,  that  candid  and  intelligent :  niftorian,  has  composed 
a  panegyric  on  the  wifdom  and  virtues  of  this  monarch.  A  thou- 
fand  other  Britiih  writers  have  performed  the  lame  talk  ;  and 
the  voice  of  the  public  hath  conftantly  fwelied  the  general  cho- 
rus of  admiration.  This  is  a  kind  of  infatuation  and  ftupidity, 
that  feems  peculiar  to  the  Britifh  nation.  The  French  never  ce- 
lebrate the  memory  of  Louis  the  eleventh,  nor  did  the  Roman 
hiftorid'ns  affect  to  regret  the  fuffbcatiou  of  Tiberius  Gsfar. 

It  is  remarkable,  that  though  the  Scots  are  perpetually  talking 
of  their  conilitution,  and  their  liberties,  the  whole  fabric  is  en- 
tirely founded  on  one  of  the  grofleft  and  moll  indecent  acts  of 
ufurpation  ever  known.  I  refer  to  the  celebrated  Union,  The 
whole  negociation  bears,  on  its  very  face,  the  (lamp  of  iniquity. 
The  utmoft  care  was  employed  to  conceal  its  infant  progress 
from  the  Scottiih  nation,  and  the  bargain  was  at  Jaft  patched  up 
with  precipitation  by  the  Scottifh  parliament.  A  fketch  of  un- 
disputed facts  will  explain  this  aiTertion.  The  commifponers  for 
framing  the  articles  were  nominated  by  the  queen.  Thus  two 
nations  rengned  a  mod  important  function  to  this  Earmlefs  but 
infignificant  woman,  who,  though  deftined  to  a  uirorie,  was 
fcarcdy  fit  for  any  thing  elfe.  On  the  126.  of  July,  1706,  the 
articles  of  un:on  were  figned  at  London,  between  the  commif- 
fioners  of  the  two  kingdoms.  A  refpect  for  the  country  required 
them  to  be  printed,  and  diftributed,  that  the  people  at  large, 
who  were  to  fupport  the  confequences  of  this  bargin,  might,  be- 
fore its  ratification,  have  time  to  confider  of  it.  Afea/ed  copy  of 
the  treaty  of  union  was  delivered  to  the  Lord  Chancellor  of 
Scotland,  and  its  contents  were  kept  fecret,  until  the  3d  of  Gcto- 
ber  following,  when  the  Scots  parliament  afiembled  at  Edin- 
burgh. The  articles  were  then  laid  before  them  ;  and  yiolei  t 
debates  enfued.  If  the  nation  had  been  capable  of  aiding  with 
unanimity,  and  firmnefs,  proportioned  to  their  feelings,  they 
would  immediately  have  fummoned  a  convention,  elected  by  the 
people.  They  would  have  declared,  that  the  parliament,  by 
granting  leave  to  the  queen,  to  name  commifhoners  for  Scotland, 
had  betrayed  the  intereit  of  their  country  ;  and  as  a  transaction, 

*  Memoirs  of  Great-Britain  and  Ireland ,,  part  in.  book  10. 


(     7<*     ) 

founded  on  fraud,  is  in  itfelf  unlawful  and  void,  they  would,  if 
they  chofe  to  negociate  at  all,  have  begun  by  throwing  afide  thefe 
articles.  Initead  of  this  regular  and  decifve  oppofition,  the  coun- 
try was  filled  with  tumults,  and  on  the  brink  of  infurre£Hou. 
At  Dumfries,,  a  body  of  armed  men  burned  the  articles  public- 
ly at  the  market  crols.  The  Duke  of  Athol,  at  the  heed  of  his 
clan,  undertook  to  fecure  the  pafs  of  Stirling,  fo  as  to  open  the 
communication  between  the  weftern  and  northern  highlands. 
At  Edinburgh,  the  parliament,  while  deliberating  on  the  treaty, 
found  it  requifite  to  furround  themfelves  with  an  armed  force. 
This  aiiembly  was  rent  into  three  different  parties  ;  and  the 
agents  of  the  crown  began,  at  length,  to  defpair  of  obtaining  a 
majority.  u  The  fum  oi  twenty  thouj rand  pounds •,  which  the  queen 
"  privately  lent  to  the  Scottilh  treafury,"*  contributed  to  pur- 
chafe  a  fuperiority  of  votes.  Thus  the  matter  went  through,  and 
the  independence  of  the  Scots  nation  was  bought  and  fold,  with 
and  for  its  own  money.  The  union  was  agreed  to,  i(  partly,"  favs 
Mr.  Guthrie,  "  from  conviction,  and  partly  through  the  force 
fC  of  money,  distributed  among  the  needy  nobility  "\  When  the 
fubject  was  introduced  into  the  Engliih  houfe  of  commons,  Sir 
John  Packington  obferved,  that  this  was  an  union  carried  on  by 
corruption  and  bribery  within  doors,  and  by  force  and  violence 
without ;  that  the  promoters  of  it  had  bafely  betrayed  their  irt:Jry 
in  giving  up  their  independent  conflitution  •,  and  he  left  it  to 
the  judgment  of  the  houfe  to  confider,  whether  or  not  men  of 
fuch  principles  were  fit  to  be  admitted  into  an  Englifh  houfe 
of  commons.  It  is  plain,  that  the  treaty  was,  in  itfelf,  altoge- 
ther illegal.  It  exactly  refembles  the  fale  of  an  eftate,  without 
the  conient  or  knowledge  of  its  owner.  The  Scotch  members  of 

o 

parliament  had  been  authorifed,  by  their  conftituents,  to  Nim- 
ble for  the  common  bu  fine  is  of  the  nation  ;  inftead  of  which, 
they  clandeftinely  transferred  its  independence  to  the  beft  bid- 
der. Edmund  Burke,  in  the  fpeech  lately  quoted,  lias  a  paflage 
that  exactly  defines  it.  (i  A  corrupt,  private  intereft,"  fays  he, 
«  is  fet  up,  in  direct  oppofition  to  the  neccihties  of  the  nation. 
«  A  diveriion  is  made  of  millions  of  the  public  money  from  the 
"  public  treafury  to  a  private  purfe."  If  the  parliament  of  Scot- 
land had  a  right  of  transferring  i.ts  independence  to  England, 
we  mult  admit,  that  the  Britifh  parliament  is  equally  warranted 
to  form  an  union  with  the  national  afTcmblyof  France,  in  fpite 
of  the  remonitrances  of  the  people  of  Britain,  and  without  let- 
ting them  know  the  terms  of  the  bargain  ;  and  then  the  two 
countries  may  be  reprefented  at  Paris  by  forty-five  deputies,  or, 
indeed,  by  one  only  ;  for  the  doctrine  of  the  Scotch  falefmen 

*  fmollrt's  Hiftory  of  Qneen  Anne. 

+  Geographical  Grammar,  Article  Scotland. 


(     77     ) 


amounts  to  that.  If  they  were  warranted  in  rr ducing  the  repte- 
fentutives  of  the  people  to  forty-hve,  they  had  the  fame  right  of 
reducing  them  to  any  leffer  number,  or,  indeed,  to  caft  them 
entii  6\j.  If-  the  parliament  of  Scotland  was  entitled  to  an- 
nihilate; iticif,  it*  had,  by  the  fame  rule,  a  power  of  aboiilhing 
every  other  part  of  the  government.  It  could  have  declared  mo- 
narchy uiek  is,  or,  like  the  commons  of  Denmark,  it  could  at 
once  have  refigned  the  liberties  of  Scotland  to  the  crown.  On 
the  f:*me -doctrine,  an  American  congrefs  would  be  justified  for 
uniting  that  continent  with  Britain;  and  we  may  conceive  what 
their  fellow-citizens  would  think  and  act  on  the  difcovery  of 
fuch  a  conjunction.  A  detail  of  the  obliquities  of  this  union, 
would  extend  the  prefent  chapter  beyond  its*  proper  limits.  A 
full  account  of  it  will  be  given  in  the  courfe  of  this  work,  when 
a  regular  hiitorical  narrative  commences,  beginning  with  the 
year  1688,  and  ending  at  the  prefent  fplendid  aera.  Without 
regard  to  perfons,  to  parties,  or  to  public  opinions,  I  ihall  there, 
as  every  where  elfe,  hold  up  truth  to  the  world,  as  (he  riles  ori 
my  researches,  in  the  naked  fimplicity  of  her  charms. 

After  fiich  a  review,  curiofity  may  lead  us  to  enquire,  if  the 
Scots  government  had  been  honeitly  conducted,  for  the  lafl  hun- 
dred years,  what,  by  this  time,  Scotland  itfetf  might  have  been  ? 
In  order  to  take  a  proper  view  of  this  iubjefr,  we  muft  begin  by 
recollecting,  that  of  one  hundred  years  next  after  the  revolution, 
Britain  fpent  forty-two  in  actual  war  with  other  nations  of  Eu- 
rc  pe,  over  and  above  the  campaigns  in  America,  and  the  quar- 
i ■>:.  Ls  of  the  Kaft-India  company.  The  following  table  exhibits, 
with  tolerable  accuracv,  the  detail  of  thefe  forty-two  years. 

v  ^  War. 

May.         ) 

Sept.  3 

May.  ") 

Auguft.  3 

Dec.  i 

June.  3 

March,  i 

Ma  v.  5 

Octo.  i 

May.  5 

June.  7 

Nov.  5 

June.  i 

March.  3 

£    1789.  May. 


Peace. 

4  years 

8  months 

6  ditto 

4  ditto 

5  ditto 

8  ditto 

12  ditto 

4  ditto 

7  ditto 

0  ditto 

15  ditto, 

7  ditto 

6  ditto 

2  ditto 

1789. 
1697. 

1702. 

1712. 
1718. 
1721. 

1727. 
1727. 

r739- 

1748. 


1762. 
1778. 
1783. 


8  vears  4  months 


10  ditto 


ditto 


2  ditto  6  ditto 


o  ditto   2  ditto 


8  ditto   7  ditto 


ditto 


ditto 


Sdi 


9  cutto 


7  vears  9  months 


42  years. 


Frequent  armaments  have  befide's  taken  place,  which,  though 
they  did  net  end  in  bloodfhed,  were  ftill  very  expenfive  to  the 


(     7«     ) 

public,  and  very  diftireffihg  to  eommer.ce.  Britain  has  Keen  ei- 
ther fighting,  or  preparing  herfclf  to  fight,  for  iixty-five  or  Se- 
venty years  out  of  one  hundred.  The  minds  of  the  people  have 
been  kept  in  a  Hate  of  inceflant  fermentation.  Their  property 
has  been  the  perpetual  fport  of  ruinous  taxes-  We  never  heve 
enjoyed  peace  for  io  long  a  time  together,  as  was  requifite  tor 
learning  its  full  advantages.  Britain  refembles  a  common  bully, 
■who  fpends  five  or  fix  days  of  the  week  on  a  boxing  ftage,  and 
the  reft  of  it,  in  an  excife  court  or  a  correction  houfe.  In  fpite 
of  all  this  folly,  the  wealth  of  the  country  has  been  continually 
increafing.  "  From  the  reitoration  to  the  revolution,  the  fo:_ 
"  trade  of  England  had  doubled  in  its  amount  ;  from  the  p 
"  of  Ryfwick  to  the  demife  of  king  William,  it  had  nearly  rilen 
"  in  the  fame  proportion.  During  the  firft  thirty  years  of  the  cur- 
"  rent  century,  it  had  again  doubled"  (although  three  wars,  fif- 
teen-campaigns,  by  land  or  lea,  a  Scottifh  rebellion,  and  fix  na- 
val ar  ma  men  is  for  the  Baltic,  had  intervened).  "  From  the.  year 
"  1750  to  1774,  notwithstanding  the  interruption  of  an  eight- 
"years  intervsnievt  nvar"  (viz..  from  1 756  to  17^3,)  "  it  ap- 
"  |)8ars  to  have  gained  more  than  one-fourth,  whether  we  deter- 
"  mine  from  the  table  of  tonnage  or  the  value  of  exports."*  We 
can  hardly  conceive  how  very  greatly  Britifh  commerce  muff 
have  augmented  by  this  time,  if  it  had  not  been  retarded  by 
thefe  abiurd  quarrels.  As  to  the  taxes,  it  has  been  already  ob- 
fcrved,t  that  every  fum  of  money  raifed  from  the  public,  celts 
them  ten  percent.  "Never  was  io  rnuchfi.lfe  arithmetic  employed^ 
"  on  any  one  fubjeel,  as  that  which  has  been  employed  to  per- 
"  fuade  nations  that  it  is  their  intereft  to  eo  to  ivn\  Were  the 

o 

**  money,  which  it  has  coll,  to  gain,  at  the  clofe  of  a  long  v.  ar, 
"  a  little  town,  or  a  little  territory,  the  right  to  cut  wood  here, 
(<  or  to  catch  fiih  there,  expended  in  improving  what  they  al- 
"  ready  poflefs,  in  making  roads,  opening  livers,  building  ports, 
"  improving  the  arts,  and  finding  employment  for  the  poor,  it 
w  would  rend,  much    ftronger,    much   wealthier,    and 

«  happier.  This,  i  hope,  will  be  our  \vifdom."i  The  greater 
part  of  the  hiOftey  (pent  in  war,  is  employed  in  the  purchafe  of 
provifions  and  military  {tons,  which  are  confirmed  in  the  courfe 
of  the  quarrel,  and  large  films  are  always  tranfmitted  in  hard 
cadi  out  of  this  illand.  Thus  a  capital  is  transferred  from  the 
molt  ufeful  and  beneficent;  to  the  molt  lavage  purpofes.  Inftead 
of  building  farm-houfes,  draining  marines,  and  inelofing  corn- 
fields ;  inltead  of  feeding'  the  hungry  and  clothing  the  naked  ; 

*  An  F.frimate  of  the  Comparative  Strength  of  Brtain,by  George  Chalmers, 
Efq.  p.  46. 

f   Vide  Introduction. 

I  Notes  on  the  ftate  of  Virginia,  by  Mr.  JefTerfon.    'Article  Public  Revenue 

■■ 

I 


(     79     ) 

inftead  of  employing  the  idle,  and  animating  the  bufy,  of  fup- 
pofting  the  indultry,  and  embell  firing  tl  e  elegance  of  life,  it 
is  deemed  to  bribe  the  brutality  of  a  prefs-gangi  or  to  pamper 
rapacity  of  a  contractor,  to  haften  the  ciiicharge  of  bombs, 
the  explofion  of'raineSj  and  the  itormiug  of  batteries  loaded  with, 
grape-ihot.  Transferences  of  this  kind  are  infinitely  numerous, 
and  the  conclusion  feems  evident  War  is  a  two-edged  fword, 
plunged  through  the  heart  of  fociety,  and  cutting  both  ways, 
equally  to  b;  avoided  for  the  mifery  which  it  produces,  and  the 
happinefs  which  it  prevents^  For  example,  Mr.  Burke,  lbme 
years  ago,  afierted   in  ent,  that  fix  hundred  thoufand 

pounds  per  annum  were  charged  tor  the  fupportoi  the  garrifon 
of  Gibraltar,  and  eighty  thoufand  pounds  for  oats,  fmniihed 
to  the  finjjle  legion  of  colonel  Tarleton.  Twelve  hundred  thou- 
fand  pounds  were  charged  for  the  annual  provifions  only  of 
forty  thoufand  men,  and  fifty-feven  thoufand  pounds  for  pnefenrj 
to  the  Indians,  for  which  they  had  only  maiTacred  twenty-five 
women  and  children. 

In  leven  years,  from  September,  1774,  to  September,  1780, 
inclufive,  the  number  of  men  railed  for  the  Britiih  army, 
was  -  -  -  -  -  76,885 

Ditto  for  the  navy  -  -  176,003 


Total     252,893= 


The  American  war  lafted  for  more  than  two  years  after  this 
eftimate  was  made,  fo  that  the  whole  number  of  men  railed, 
mull  have  been  at  lead  ti  ree  hundred  thoufand.  Dr.  Franklin, 
in  a  letter  to  Mi.  Vaughan,  fays,  that  feven  hundred  B-itiih 
privateers,  whole  crews  he  calls  gangs  of 'robbers ■,  were  commif- 
fioned  during  this  war.  At  an  allowance  of  feventy-two  men  to 
each  of  them,  the  whole  amount  was  fifty  thoufand  four  hun- 
dred. A  workman  can,  upon  an  average,  earn  about  ten  (hil- 
lings a  week,  which,  in  London,  is  at  prefent  half  the  common 
wages  of  a  journeyman  taylor.  Reduce  this  to  twenty-five  pounds 
per  annum,  and  his  life  may  beeftimated  at  twelve  years  purchafe, 
or  three  hundred  pounds  in  value  to  the  public.  At  this  rate,  the 
daily  labour  of  the  above  three  hundred  and  fifty  thoufand  men, 
extends  to  eight  millions,  (even  hundred  and  fifty  thoufand 
pounds  per  a?mum.  If  they  had  all  perifhed  in  the  war,  the  va- 
lue of  their  lives  would  have  amounted,  at  three  hundred  pounds 
per  head,  to  one  hundred  and  five  millions  fterling.  Vvre  are  far- 
ther to  obferve,  that  previous  to  September,  1774,  a  very  nu- 
merous body  of  men  were  engaged  in  the  Britifh  army  and  na\  r, 
and  thofe  peribns  are  not  included  in  the  preceding  three  huu- 

*   New  Annual  Regifter  for  17S1.     Principal  Qceurrencet.  p.  40. 


(        OD        ) 

iked  and  fifty  thoufand.  When  a  corps  is  raifed,  and  fent  out 
of  the  Britifh  iflands  to  actual  fervice,  it  feidom  happens  that 
more  than  a  fixth,  a  tenth,  or  a  twentieth  part  of  the  men,  ever 
come  home  again  ;  and  even  of  thole  who  do  fa,  one  half  are 
frequently  invalids  and  penfioners,  or  beggars.  Dr.  Johnibn,  in 
hi s'Tour  through  Scotland,  relates,  that  in  the  war  of  1756,  an 
Highland  regiment,  confiding  of  twelve  hundred  men,  was  fent 
to  North-America,  and  that  of  thefe,  only  feventy -J;  x  returned. 
Dr.  Franklin,  in  a  fhort  eiTay  on  war,  obferves,  that  privateer 
men  "  are  rarely  fit  for  any  fober  bufmefs  after  a  peace,  and 
"  ferve  only  to  increafe  the  number  of  highwaymen  and  houfe- 
"  breakers."  From  thefe  particulars,  we  may  infer,  that  at  lea  it 
three  hundred  thoufand  perfons  were  loft  to  the  Britiih  nation, 
whofe  lives,  in  fee-fimple,  were  worth  ninety  millions  (terling. 
Of  this  account,  a  fifth  part  may  fafeiy  be  ftated  as  the  ihare  of 
Scotland  ;  fo  that  the  feven  tea-duty  campaigns,  coft  an  expence 
of  Scots  blood,  to  the  value  of  eighteen  millions  fteriing.  The 
war  might  have  been  avoided  with  the  greateft  facility.  In  the 
hiftorical  regiiter  of  Edinburgh,  for  the  month  of  December, 
1791,  there  is  a  curious  calculation,  founded  on  the  authority 
of  Sir  John  Sinclair's  itatiftical  reports.  By  this,  it  becomes 
verv  probable,  that  Scotland  contains  ninety-fix  thoufand  fe- 
males more  than  males.  It  is  known,  that  the  number  of  boys 
born  exceeds  that  of  girls  ;  and  hence  this  deficiency  muft  be 
a-fcribed  to  war  and  emigration.  It  has  been  flated  above,  that 
more  than  fix  hundred  thoufand  pounds  of  taxes  raifed  from  the 
Scots,  are  fairly  carried  into  the  BritHh  exchequer  ;  and  our  ab- 
fentees  at  London,  who  fpend  the  rent  of  their  eftates  in  that 
receptacle  of  proiligacy,  may  be  eftimated  at  an  additional  three 
hundred  thoufand  pounds  per  annum.  The  total  fum  raifed  in 
Scotland,  during  the  year  1788,  by  government,  was  about  one 
million  and  ninety-nine  thoufand  pounds.  This  includes  a  con- 
jectural article  of  one  hundred  and  thirty  thoufand  pounds  as  the 
duty  paid  upon  goods  manufactured  in  England,  taxed  there,  and 
fent  down  to  Scotland  for  confumption.  Of  the  one  million  and 
ninety-nine  thoufand  pounds  fteriing,  about  fix  hundred  and 
tfiiny  thoufand  pounds  went  in  that  year  into  the  Englifh  ex- 
chequer. The  remaining  four  hundred  and  fixty  thoufand  pounds, 
if  managed  with  ceconomy,  would  have  been  much  more  than 
fu/ucient  for  all  the  purpofes  of  civil  government,  and  the  fix 
hundred  thoufand  guineas  might  have  been  faved  to  the  public. 
If  the  union  had  never  exiited,  the  three  hundred  thoufand 
pounds  per  annum  for  abfentees,  would  likewife  have  remained 
in  Scotland.  If  we  had  enjoyed  a  wife,  virtuous,  and  independent 
government,  nine  hundred  thoufand  pounds  a- year  would  have 
been  retained  in  this  poor,  defpifed,  and  enflaved  country,  which 
at  prefent  goes  out  of  it.  Shut  up  in  a  remote  peninfula,  where 


(     8.     ) 

nobod v  comes  to  moleft  us,  we,  Scotfmen ,  have  no  natural  bufmefs 
with  Falkland's  iflands,  or  Nootka  Sound,  with  the  wilds  of  Ca- 
nada, or  the  fuburbs   of  Oczakow.  The   farmers   of  Fife  i 
Lanerk,    are  little   concerned   in   the  fquabbles  between  Ti 
Saib,   and  a  corporation   of  Englilh   merchartts.  Shepherds 
Galloway  fpend  eheir  winter  evenings  without  a  fire,  and  wea- 
vers of  Glafgow  go  fupperlefs  to  bed,  for  the  fake  of  a^Du 
frontier,  and  the  balance  of  uiurpation  between  German  tyr 
Fur  fuch  wife  ends,  we  pay  fix  hundred  thoufand  guineas  a  y< 
We   are  not  fufFered  to   fiih  cod  upon  our  own  coafts,  but 
fight  eight  or  ten  years  at  a  ftretch  for  leave  to  catch   it  on 
banks    of  Newfoundland.  Since   the  revolution,   Scotland 
furnimed  the  Britiih  army  and  navy  with  three  or  four  hundred 
thoufand  recruits/while,  at  the  fame  time,  England  fufFered  ei . 
thoufand  of  our  anceitors  to  die,  in  a  iingle  year,  of  hun 

Thefe  particulars  may  afTift  us  in  comprehending  the  deilruc- 
tion  produced  to  North-Britain  by  the  prefent  iyftem  of  admin 
ilration.  :.  witzerland  is  reported,  in  round  number s^  to  con 
twelve  thoufand  fquare  miles,,  and  two  millions  of  people.  The 
foil  is  barren,  and  its  furface  encumbered  with  tremendous 
mountains,  yet  every  acre  of  land  is  improved.  The  beauty  of  the 
country,  and  the  felicity  of  its  inhabitants,  fill,  with  rapture,  the 
pages  of  travellers.  North-Britain,  and  its  weftern  iflands,  ex- 
ciuiive  of  Orkney  and  Shetland,  form  an  area  of  at  leaft  thirty 
thoufand  fquare  miles.  The  money  and  the  blood  expended  in 
foolifh  wars,  would  have  converted  the  whole  countrv,  like  the 
Swifs  cantons,  into  gardens,  corn-helds  and  paftures.  In  propor- 
tion to  the  Helvetic  population,  we  mould  have  amounted  to  five 
millions,  belides  another  million  fupported  by  the  fiiheries,  and 
by  the  manufactures  to  which  they  give  rife.  Initead  of  fix  mil- 
lions, the  number  of  people  in  Scotland  does  not  exceed  about 
fixteen  hundred  thoufand. 

This  mournful  chapter  is  now  approaching  to  a  eonclufion.  I 
(hall  onlyjuft  remind  the  reader  of  the  maflacre  at Culloden, where 
Hanoverian  ferocity  exhibited  its  utmoft  horror.  About  two  thou- 
fand of  the  miferable  rebels  were  cut  to  pieces.  The  wounded 
were  butchered  in  cold  blood.  The  particulars  muft  be  deferred  till 
iome  future  opportunity.  By  a  very  itrange  act  of  parliament, 
the  duke  of  Cumberland  received,  for  his  fervices,  a  penfion  of 
twenty-five  thoufand  pounds  fterling,  added  to  fifteen  thoufand 
pounds,  which  he  had  before.*  The  ruffians  who  performed 
fuch  work,  at  fix-pence  a  day,  were  (till  more  execrable  than 
thofe  who  fet  them  on.  The  toad-eating  Scots  exulted  in  this 
tragical  confummation  of  victory.  The  wretched  newfpapers  of 

*  This  psnlion  ferved  to  fwell  "  the  loaded  compost  hsap  of  corrupt  influence" 
Vide  Mr   Burke's  fpeech,  a*  to  reforming  the  civil  lift,  on  the  i  ith  of  February 


(     82     ) 

that  sera,  were  croutled  with  verfes  in  praife  of  his  royal  highneft. 
The  circum  (lances  oi  the  battle  of  Culioden  itfelf,  and  the  mean 
and  barbarous  exultation  which  it  produced,  were  alike  difgrace- 
ful  to  the  name  of  Britain.  Cumberland  continues  to  be  remem- 
bered in  Scotland^  by  the  fignificant  appellation  of  The  bloody 
Duke. 


CHAPTER     IV. 


Blo.chjlone — His  idea  of  the  Englifh  conj/itutiou — Default  of  an 
hundred  and  feventy-one  millions  flerling — Powell — Be  nib  ridge — 
tMary  Talbot — Wejlminfter  election — Anecdotes  of  the  war  with 
America — Englifh  Dif  enters — Their  laiu-fuit  with  the  corpo- 
ration of  Loudon — Society  of  friends — Unparalleled  cppreffion 
of  that  feci  in  England — Boxing. 

THE  annals  of  Scotland  prefent  us  with  a  feries  of  frightful 
maffacres.  For  any  purpofe  of  moral  utility  which  it  can 
anfwer,  the  whole  narrative  had  better  be  forgotten.  During  the 
laft  forty  years,  one  half  of  our  hiftorians  have  exhaufted  their  ta- 
lents to  revile  the  memory  of  George  Buchanan,  by  far  the  great- 
eft  literary  character  that  North-Britain  ever  produced,  to  decide 
whether  Mary  Stuart  wrote  fome  very  ftupid  letters  in  French 
and  Latin,  and  whether  Henry  Darnley  was  a  cuckold.  We 
mall  certainly  find  fupevior  entertainment  in  the  hiitory  of  Eng- 
land, which,  as  her  poets  and  hiftorians  tell  \xci  hath  always  been 
the  native  feat  of  liberty.  Here  is  a  fpecimen. 

"  During  the  reigns  of  Charles  and  James  the  fecond,  above 
"  fixty  thoufand  Non-conformilts  fuffered,  of  whoinyW  thoufand 
«  died  in  prison.  On  a  moderate  computation,  thefe  pcrfons 
"  were  pillaged  oi  fourteen  millions  of  property.  Such  was  the 
«•  tolerating,  liberal,  candid  fpirit  of  the  church  of  England."* 
This  eitimate  cannot  be  intended  to  include  Scotland  ;  lor  it  is 
likely  that  here  alone,  epifcopacy  facrificed  fixty  thoufand  vic- 
tims. Of  all  forts  of  follies,  the  records  of  the  church  form  the 
moil  outrageous  burlefque  on  the  human  underltanding.  As  to 
Charles  the  fecond,  it  is  full  time  that  we  ihould  be  fpared  from 
the  hereditary  infultof  aholiday  for  his  baneful  reiteration. 

At  five  per  cent,  of  compound  interett,  a  funi  doubles  in  four- 
teen years  and  one  hundred  and  live  days,  or  feven  times  in  a 
century.  Put  the  cafe,  that  thefe  fourteen  millions  of  property 
were  taken  from  the  Englifh  diffenters  at  once,  in  1678,  and  that 
they  would  have  doubled  eight  times  between  that  period,,  and 

*  Slower,  pu  the  rrcnok-(fltrifciiutioi),p.  4J7-  arid h»  authorities.- 

j 


(     S3     ) 

the  prefent  year,  1792.  This  is  taking  the  lofs  on  the  moft  mo- 
derate terms.  Byfuch  an  account,  the  feci,  are,  at  this  day,  poorer, 
in  confequence  ofthefe  perfecutions,  than  they  otherwife  would 
have  been,  bv  the  fum  of  three  thoufand,  five  hundred  and  eigh- 
ty-fodr  millions  fterling. 

"  Our  religious  liberties  were  fully  eflablifhed  at-  the  reforma- 
(i  tion  :  but  the  recovery  of  our  civil  and  political  liberties  was  a 
"  workof  longer  time ;  they  not  being  thoroughly  and  completely 
€i  regained  till  after  the  reftorat'wn  of  king  Charles,  nor  fully  and 
i(  explicitly  acknowledged  and  defined,  till  the  a?ra  of  the  happy 
u  revolution.  Of  a  conftitution  fo  wifely  contrived,  fo  ftrongly 
"  railed,  and  fo  highly  finished,  it  is  hard  to  fpeak  with  that 
"  praife,  which  is  jufcly  and  feverely  its  due.  The  thorough  and 
f(  attentive  contemplation  of  it  will  furnifh  its  bed  panegyric. 
n  It  hath  been  the  endeavour  of  thefe  commentaries,  however 
"  the  execution  may  have  fucceeded,  to  examine  its  folid  foun- 
<c  dations,  to  mark  out  its  extenfive  plan,  to  explain  the  ufe  and 
<c  diftribution  of  its  parts,  and  from  the  harmonious  concurrence 
of  thefe  feveral  parts,  to  demonftrate  the  elegant  proportion 
of  the  whole.  We  have  taken  occafion  to  admire,  at  every  turn, 
the  noble  monuments  of  antient  fimplicity,  and  the  mors  curi- 
*  ous  refinements  (falt-bonds,  and  fc  forth,)  of  modern  art.  Nor 
lave  its  faults  been  concealed  from  view  ;  for  faults  it  has 
<<  (wonderful  !),  left  we  mould  be  tempted  to  think  it  of  more 
<c  than  human  structure."*  The  federal  conftitution  of 
North- America  looks,  at  leaft  upon  paper,  as  well  as  that  of  Bri- 
tain. James  Madifon,  Efq.  of  Virginia,  is  reported  to  have  been 
its  chief  author.  The  citizens  of  the  united  dates,  or  at  leaft  a 
great  majority  of  their  number,  regard  this  conftitution  with 
attachment  a.:d  admiration  ;  but  they  never  fpeak  of  Mr.  Madi- 
fon as  a  divinity.  They  do  not  imagine,  that  fix  or  eight  hundred 
years  of  botching  were,  as  in  England,  rcquifite,  before  a  politi- 
cal cub  couid  be  licked  into  any  tolerable  fhape  \  for  two  or  three 
years  at  the  utmoft,  were  employed  in  framing  the  prefent  Ame- 
rican conftitution.  In  the  paflage  now  quoted,  Sir  William  Black- 
ftone  has  only  adopted  the  ordinary  cant  of  the  Englifh  nation. 
If  any  member  of  congrefs  were  to  fpeak  in  fuch  a  ftrain  as  to 
the  legifiative  fyftem  of  that  country,  the  whole  afleiribly  would 
confider  him  as  pofitively  crazed.  As  to  the  u  happy  revolution," 
the  reader  may  judge  from  what  follows.  "  Two  hundred  thou- 
"  fand  pounds  a  year  beftonved  upon  the  parliament)  have  already 
"  (1693,)  drawn  out  of  the  pockets  of  theiubje£ts,  mqri  money, 
"  than  all  our  kings  J- nee  the  cotiquefl  have  had  from  the  nation.  The 
"  king  (William)  has  about  fix  fcore  members,  whom  I  can  reckon^ 

*   Commentaries  on  the  Laws  of  England;  by  Sir  William  Blackftone,  Bopk  it 
chap.  xxxm. 


(      ?4      ) 

cc  who  are  in  places,  and  are  thereby  fo  entirely  at  his  devotion, 
c<  that  though  they  have  mortal  feuds,  ivhen  out  of  thehoufe^  and 
"  though  they  are  violently  of  oppofite  parties,  in  their  notions 
"  of  government,  yet  they  vote  as  lurripingly  as  the  laivtif.eeves. 
"  The  hcufe  is  fo  officered  by  fchofe  who  have  places  and  penfions, 
"  that  tl  e  king  can  bailie  any  bill,  quafii  all  grievances,  and 
ft  {lille  all  accompts."*  As  to  the  lawn  fleeves,  the  twenty-fix  fees 
of  England,  2\z  tflimated  at  ninety-two  thcufand  five  hundred 
pounds,  and  the  twenty-two  Irifh  fees,  at  feventy-f our  thoufand 
pounds,  which  is  in  whole,  one  hundred  and  fixty-fix  thoufand, 
five  hundred  pounds.  On  a  medium,  each  of  thefe  forty-ei^ht 

»ns  thus  receive  three  thoufand,  four  hundred  and  fixty-eight 

ds  fifteen  {hillings  fterlingj^r  annum. 
Knowledge,  like  charity,  ought  to  begin  at  heme.  If  the  Bri- 
tifli  nation  had  been  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  true  cha- 
racter of  their  own  govern  men  r,  they  would  have  faved  them- 
felvesthe  trouble  of  much  impertinent  encomium  upon  it,  and 
of  many  contemptuous  and  unprovoked  companions  between 
tl  e  political  fituation  of  their  neighbours  and  themfelves.  Sir 
William   Blackflone,  and  other  writers,    fpeak  about   the  glo- 

revolution  ;  but  what  glory  could  be  annexed  to  the  affair, 
it  is  not  eafy  to  fee.  An  infatuated  old  tyrant  was  deferted  by 
all  the  world,  and  fed  from  his  dominions.  His  people  chofe 
a  fucceflbr.  This  was  natural  enough,  but  it  had  no  connec- 
tion with  glory.  James  ra?i  away,  which  precluded  all  oppor- 
tunities for  heroiim.  The  character  of  the  leaders  in  the  revo- 
lution will  not  juftify  a  violent  encomium  on  the  purity  of  their 
friotiyes.  The  feleclion  of  William  was  reprobated  very  foon 
after,  by  themfelves,  which  excludes  any  pretence  to  much  poli- 
tical fprefight.  Here  then  is  a  glorious  event,  accomplifhed  with- 
out an  aclual  effort  of  courage,  of  integrity,  or  of  wifdom. 
When  the  Swifs,  the  Scots,  the  Americans,  the  Corficans,  or 
the  Dutch,  wreftled  againfl  the  fuperior  forces  of  defpotifm, 
■  fcenes  of  glory,  and  panegyric  becomes  intelligible. 
But  when  no  refi (lance  happened,  the  difmifiions  of  a  king  and 
a  coachman,  were  equally  remote  from  it. 

One  of  the  principal  duties  of  a  national  government,  is  to 

*:  the  revenues  may  be  duly   applied  to  the  ferviee 

of  tl  .  But  when  we  look   into  this  branch   of  admini- 

.1  peculation  every  where  meets  our  enquiries. 

Let   us    take  in    one   hand   the  commentaries    of  Blackflone, 

and  in  the  other,  the  reports  of  the  commifTioners  of  public  ac- 

and  we  fhall  fee  how  the  panegyriil  agrees  with  the  ac- 

complant.    The  tenth  report,  which  is  dated  the  ifl  of  July, 

1783,  contains  the  following,   among  other  curious  pafTages. 

*  liurqu's  Political  DifnuJGtions,  vol.  I.  p.  450. 


(     85     ) 

ei  The  bufinefs  of  the  auditor  of  the  impreft,  to  be  colle&ed 

"  from  his  commiffion,  is  to  audit  the  accounts  of  mcft  of  the 
"  receivers,  and  of  all  the  officers  and  perfons  entrufted  with 
<l  the  expenditure  of  the  public  revenue. —  The  accounts  which 
<(  at  this  day  remain  for  the  audit  of  the  exchequer,  zxtfeventy 
<■  four  millions,  the  ifiues  of  twenty  one  years,  for  the  navy  fer- 
{-  vice:  fifty  eight  millions,  the  iiiues  of  eighteen  years,  for  the  ar- 
li  my  iervice  •,  near  thirty  nine  millions  ifiued  to  fub-accountants*, 
"  together,  one  hundred  and feventy  one  millions  ;  the  receipts  and 
«  ifiues  of  all  the  provificns  for  the  fupport  of  the  land  forces 
"  in  America,  and  the  Weft-Indies,  during  the  late  war  :  all 
"  thefe  accounts  muft  be  pafled.  The  public  have  a  right  and 
"  good  caufe  to  demand  it."  Here  is  an  account  of  a  hundred 
and  feventy  one  millions  Jlerling.  that  has  arrived  at  the  mature 
age  of  twenty  one  years ,  without  a  fettlcment.  The  reader  may 
paufe  and  flare,  but  the  report  is  atteiled  by  five  commiffioners, 
and  publifhed  by  order  of  government.  There  is  no  great  breach 
of  charity  in  fufpecling  that  fifty  or  fixty  millions,  out  of  thefe 
one  hundred  and  feventy  one  millions,  have  been  funk  in  the 
pockets  of  thofe  who  handled  them.  In  this  report,  Mr.  John 
Powell,  acting  executor  of  lord  Holland,  and  cafhierof  the  pay- 
office,  makes  a  principal  figure.  In  1783,  Mr. Powell  cut  his  own 
throat.  His  friend,  Mr.  Bembridge,  accountant  ot  the  pay  of- 
fice, had  examined  and  paiTed  fome  accounts  between  lord  Hol- 
landand  the  exchequer.  For  this  iervice,  he  claimed  and  receiv- 
ed two  thoufand  fix  hundred  pounds.  It  was  afterwards  found, 
that  forty  eight  thoufand  feven  hundred  pounds,  chargeable  a- 
gainft  lord  Holland,  had  been  improperiv  concealed,  and  Bern- 
bridge  was  profecuted  for  breach  of  truft.  His  counfeller,  Mr. 
Bearcroft,  urged  a  kind  of  defence,  which  placed  the  lawyer  and 
his  client  exactly  on  a  level.  He  faid,  that  the  original  blame,  if 
there  was  any,  retted  with  the  late  Mr.  Powell,  who  was  the 
benefactor  of  Mr.  Bembridge,  and  that  it  would  have  been  un- 
generous in  the  latter  to  have  betrayed  the  former.  Lord 
North,  Mr.  Burke,  and  feveral  other  birds  of  the  fame  feather, 
gave  Bembridge  the  higheft  character  for  integrity-  Lord 
Mansfield  was  ol  a  quite  oppofite  opinion.  The  jury  found 
Bembridge  guilty.  He  was  fined  in  two  thoufand  fix  hundred 
pounds,  and  condemned  to  fix  months  of  imprifonment.  The 
author  of  the  new  annual  regifler,  for  1783,  lavs,  that  "  he  bore 
"  this  very  heavy  judgment  with  great  fortitude  and  compofure.': 
His  compofure  mud  be  afcribed  to  an  hardened  front.  The  fine 
was  but  nominal,  as  he  only  repaid  money  which  he  had  not 
earned ;  and  for  an  intended  fraud  of  forty  eight  thoufanc 
pounds,  fo  trifling  a  confinement,  in  which  he  could  enjoy  all 
the  luxuries  of  life,  was  no  punifhment  at  all.  If  Bembridge'had 
been  a  poorer  man,  it  is  likely  that  his  fentence  would  havebeen 


(    sd   ) 

very  different,  at  lend,  if  we  may  conjecture  from  the  following; 
cafe.  "  On  the  1 8th  of  December,  1790,  at  the  adjourned  fef- 
"  fion  of  the  Old  Bailey,  Mary  Talbot  refufed  to  accept  his  ma- 
u  jelly's  pardon.  She  laid,  that  her  return  from  tr an fpor ration, 
•*  was  on  account,  of  three  dear  infants,  and  that  as  {he  could  not 
"  take  them  with  her,  /he  had  rather  die.  The  recorder  pointed 
M  out  the  dreadful  precipice  on  which  fhe  flood  ;  as  it  was  mod 
'«  likely,  when  her  refufal  was  intimated  to  his  majefty,  that  (he 
u  would  be  ordered  for  execution.  She  flill  perfiited,  and  was 
"  taken  from  the  bar  in  firong  convitlfions."  This  article  is  copi- 
ed from  a  London  newfpapcr.  The  original  crime,  or  the  fiibfe- 
quent  fate  of  Mary  Talbot,  I  have  not  learned.  She  had  mod 
likely  been  tranfported  for  fome  petty  theft ;  and,  after  endur- 
ing the  "agony  of  a  thoufand  deaths,  was  now  to  be  hanged  for 
it;  while  Bembridge  efcaped  with  what  was  equal  to  no  fentence 
at  all.  A  man  muftpoffefs  the  apathy  of  marble,  who  can  read 
this  parallel  without  indignation.  $cotland,  for  her  humble 
fhare  in  the  blefhngs  of  fuch  a  government,  pay?  fix  hundred 
thoufand  guineas  of  net  cam  per  annumy  tranfported  entirely 
cut  of  the  country,  befides  her  paying  very  fmartiy  for  foldiers, 
tidewaiters,  excifemen,  and  all  other  forts  of  conftitutional  cater- 
pillars. Great  and  manifold  have  been  the  advantages  of  the  uni- 
on. It  was  highly  worth  our  while  to  borrow  twenty  thoufand 
pounds  from  the  treafury  of  England*  to  fecure  this  tre  ity  by 
the  purchafe  of  a  majority  in  our  incorruptible  parliament. 
When  Horace  Walpole  discovered  that  Scotfmen  had  more 
fenfe  than  other  people,  he  had  certainly  been  thinking  of 
this  loan,  or  of  the  veries  that  we  publifhed  in  praife  of  the 
duke  of  Cumberland,  after  the  battle  of  Culloden,  or  cf  our  at- 
tempting to  found  a  colony  under  the  equinoctial  line,  at  an 
cxpence  of  five  hundred  thoufand  pounds  fterling,  while  two 
hundred  thoufand  Scotch  men,  women,  and  children,  were  beg- 
ging from  door  to  door,  and  thoufands  and  ten  thoufands  of 
others  were  dying  of  hunger.  Perhaps  he  was  alfo  reflecting 
upon  our  magnanimous  conflagration  of  a  Foman  catholic  cha- 
pel, at  Edinburgh,  about  fifteen  years  ago,  and  upon  our  heroi- 
cally railing  a  few  regiments,  after  the  defeat  of  Burgoyne,  in 
1 777,  to  fubferibe  a  fecond  convention  at  Saratoga.  Or  Mr. 
Walpole  may  have  been  abferbed  in  admiration  at  the  manage- 
ment of  our  royal  boroughs,  where  twenty  or  thirty  feJf-eleclcd 
perfons  govern  the  revenues  of  the  whole  community.  The  city 
of  Edinburgh,  including  Leith,  has  about  eighty  thoufand  inha- 
bitants, and  an  income  that  may  be  gueflcd  at  about  fixty,  or  an 
hundred  thoufand   pounds  fterling*  This  revenue  is  under  the 

*    Supra  Ch;:p.  Hi. 

I  Catalogue  of  Rcval  and  nohlc  author*. 


(     «7     ) 

abfolute  management  of  between  thirty  and  forty  fe!f-elected 
individuals;  while  the  citizens  at  large,  have  no  more  to  fay  in 
the  difpofal  of  this  money,  than  an  equal  number  of  Greeks  or 
Jews,  in  the  administration  of  the  revenues  of  the  Grand  Turk. 
Let  us  proceed  with  the  fubject  of  national  expenditure,  and 
illuftrate  what  Blackitone  fo  happily  terms  the  more  curious  /«.- 
jineihents  of  modern  art. 

Some  times,  a  Britifh  minifter  gives  an  example  of  ceco- 
nomy ;  for  mitance,  in  the  cafe  between  George  Smith,  a 
publican  of  Weftminfter,  and  George  Rofe,  efquire,  joint  fe- 
cretary  to  the  treafury,  clerk  of  the  parliament,  mafter  of  the 
plea  office,  and  reprefentative  for  the  borough  of  Chrift  church. 
Mr.  Smith  was  an  agent  employed  by  Mr.  Role,  in  the  contend- 
ed election  for  Weftminfter,  between  lord  Hood,  and  lord  John 
rownfhend.  Mr.  Smith  detected  fix  hundred  bad  votes,  that 
had  been  given  for  lord  John  Townfhend.  In  this  bulinefs  he 
was  engaged  from  the  21ft  of  September,  1789.  to  the  17th  of 
April  following,  a  fpace  of  thirty  weeks  ;  and  Mr.  Smith  charg- 
ed for  his  fervices,  half  a  guinea  per  day.  The  account  amount- 
ed, at  this  rate,  to  one  hundred  and  ten  pounds  five  (hillings! 
fterling,  or  three  findings  and  eight-pence  for  each  vote.  Mr. 
Smith  was,  a  perfon  in  decent  circumitances ;  and  as  this  talk 
was  neither  agreeable,  nor  even  reputable,  his  demand  feems  to 
have  been  extremely  moderate.  A  great  part  of  the  money  mult 
have  been  expended  in  doing  the  work.  The  account,  when  it 
firft  appeared,  was  Hated  in  thefe  words,  fix  hundred  bad  votes, 
bludgeon  men ,  tsfc.  humbly  fubmhted.  On  the  2  ill  of  July,  1791, 
the  caufe  was  tried  before  a  fpecial  jury,  in  the  court  of  king's 
bench,  and  Rofe  was  cad ;  fo  that,  this  experiment  of  miniite- 
rial  frugality  was  not  fuccefsful.  Smith  had  been  proiecuted  in 
an  excife  court,  and  after  a  fuit  of  three  years,  condemned  in 
a  fine  of  fifty  pounds.  Rofe  interfered, and  half  of  the  fine  was 
not  paid.  This  account  is  extracted  from  that  printed  of  the 
trial.  As  to  the  defence,  Mr.  Erikine,  counfel  for  the  plaintiff, 
faid,  that  a  more  mean,  paltry,  fhabby,  contemptible  one,  he  ne- 
ver faw  brought  into  a  court  of  juftice.  Mr.  Rofe  mult  hold  an 
elector  of  Weftminfter  verv  cheap,  if  he  does  not  imagine  hi* 
vote  worth  three  fhiliings  and  eight-pence.  In  a  Weftmin- 
fter election,  at  leait,  there  feems  to  be  nothing  o'l  "  mare  than 
"  human  ftructure." 

The  feventh  report  of  the  commiffioners  of  public  accounts, 
bears  date  the  19th  day  of  June,  1782.  The  fubject  of  it  is  the 
expenditure  of  public  money  in  America,  during  the  laft  war. 
"  The  hire  only  of  waggons,  horfes,  and  drivers y  employed  un- 
"  der  the  management  of  the  quarter-mafter  general,  from  tlxe 
"  25th  of  December,  1776,  to  the  31ft  of  March,  1780,  was 
w  three  hundred  and  thirty  eight,  thoufuad,  four  hundred  and 


(     88.    ) 

"  thirty  five  pounds,  eight  {hillings,  and  fix-pence  three  far- 
"  tlrngs,  excluiive  cf  provifions,  forage,  repairs,  and  other  con- 
"  ti  gent  expenses*"  The  commilnoners  next  ftate  the  actual 
price  of  waggons  and  hories,  and  the  common  rate  at  which 
they  were  hired.  They  affirm,  that  the  owner  of  fuch  a  waggotf 
and  horfes,  received  back  his  purchafe-money,  in  lefs  than  Jive 
months.  '«  After  which,  if  pofiefled.  cf  fifty  large  waggons,  and 
"  two  hundred  horfes,  { and  the  waggons  and  horfes  were,  in  ge- 
"  neral,  die  property  of  a  few  officers  only,)  he  will  have,  as  long 
u  as  he  can  continue  them  in  the  fervice  of  government,  a  clear 
"  income  cf  nine  thoufand  eight  hundred  and  eighty  five  pounds 
"  eight  (hillings  and  four-pence,  a  year,  fecure  from  all  rift." 
The  hire  of  the  whole  waggons  and  horfes  employed  by  the 
Britifh  troops,  was,  upon  a  medium,  eighty  feven  thoufand, 
nine  hundred  and  fifty-one  pounds  per  annum.  lt  The  prime 
«  coll  of  the  waggons  and  horfes,  at  the  highejl  price,  is  forty 
"  four  thoufand  one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds.  This  fum  being 
"  deducted  from  eighty  feven  thoufand,  nine  hundred  and  fifty 
u  one  pounds,  leaves  the  cie<:r  profit  of forty  three  thoufand  eight 
"  hundred  and  one  pounds,  for  the  firft  year."  From  the  fubfe- 
quent  part  of  the  time,  the  purchafe-money  of  the  horfes  and 
waggons  did  not  fall  to  be  deducted,  fo  that  the  profits  became 
exorbitant.  In  the  fhort  period  of  three  years  and  a  quarter,  this 
itatement  "  gives  the  fum  of  two  hundred  and  forty  onethcu- 
"  fand,  fix  hundred  and  ninety  pounds,  paid  by  the  public,  be- 
"  yond  what  it  would  have  colt  them,  had  the  property  of  thefe 
"  waggons  and  hories  belonged  to  government."  In  a  word,  the 
public  paid  all  together,  two  hundred  and  eighty  five  thoufand, 
feven  hundred  and  forty  pounds,  foi  the  hire  of  horfes  and  wag- 
gons, when  the  horfes  and  waggons  themfelves  could  have  been 
purchafed  for  forty  four  thoufand,  one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds. 
The  reader  willobferve,  that  the  incidental  expences  or  damage, 
for  example,  the  death  of  ahorfeorthe  breaking  of  a  wheel,  were 
paid  for  over  and  above  by  the  public.  A  homely  comparifon 
may  illultrate  this  abufc.  A  tradefman  goes  into  a-  tap-room, 
and  calls  for  a  quart  of  porter,  of  which  the  common  price  is 
four  pence.  He  gives  the  waiter  half  a  crown,  and,  inftead  of 
drinking  the  liquor,  he  throws  it  into  the  face  of  the  bell  cuf- 
tomer  that  has  ever  entered  his  ihop.  Every  body  would  ima- 
gine fuch  a  man  out  of  his  fenfes.  The  conduct  of  the  Britifh 
parliament  juitiiies  the  fufpicion  of  the  king  of  PrulTia,  that  they 
had  certainly  been  bitten  by  a  mad-dog.*  They  paid,  in  the 
above  initance,  about  [tven  times  the  real  price  of  waggons  and 
horfes  for  the  hire  of  them,  and  thefe,  when  hired,  were  em- 
ployed in  traverling  the  continent  of  America,  in   the  rear  of 

*  Vide  Introduction. 


(     89     ) 

immenfe  bands  of  highwaymen  who  were  to  load  them  with  boo- 
ty,whiiethe  Britifh  merchants  and  manufacturersmighthavtfbeen 
acquiring  millions  of"  guineas,  by  an  amicable  and  honeft  inter- 
courfe  with  that  very  country.  Sir  William  Biackftone  fays, 
that  a  thorough  and  attentive  contemplation  of  the  Engifh  con-* 
ftitution,  will  furnifh  its  bed  panegyric.  This  conihtution  can 
only  be  valuable,  in  the  fame  degree  that  it  is  practicable,  for, 
if  it  cannot  he  reduced  t$ practice,  it  is  of  no  more  ufe  than  the 
republic  of  Plato,  or  the  Utopia  of  Sir  Thomas  More.  When 
we  examine  it,  by  the  ted  of  experience,  we  are  immediately 
overwhelmed  in  an  ocean  of  follies,  and  of  crimes.  Nothing  can 
more  compleatly  prove  its  extreme  imperfection,  than  the  man- 
ner in  which  the  Britifh  nation  is  every  day  bubbled  out  of  its 
public  money.  The  ieventh  report,  which  we  are  now  quoting, 
forms  a  finking  monument  of  the  grofs  manner  in  which  we 
have  been  cheated.  Thefe  reports  compofe  one  of  the  mod  in- 
structive, and  ufeful  publications,  that  ever  appeared  in  any 
country.  They  contain  mountains  of  inconteitible  evidence, 
that  a  great  part  of  the  conltitution,  ifive  are  to  judge  by  the  pre- 
fi '?it  practice  of  it,  is  abfolutely,  and  irrecoverably  rotten  ;  and  yet, 
I  h  we  never  feen  them  quoted  in  any  one  of  the  numerous  pam- 
phlets that  are  constantly  ifiiiing  from  the  preiTes  of  political  re- 
formation. I  do  not  recoiled  to  have  heard  even  their  exiftence 
mentioned  by  any  perfon  whatever;  and  though  they  mull  be  per- 
fectly familiar  to  a  few  individuals,  they  are  as  totally  unknown 
to  the  great  body  of  the  people,  as  the  archives  of  Memphis. 
As  being  of  higher  authority  than  the  performance  of  any 
private  remarkex  car.  be,  they  feem  proper  to  be  placed  in  op- 
position to  Sir  William  Biackftone.  We  (hall,  for  the  preient, 
quit  them,  with  the  following  particulars. 

From  the  i ft  of  January,  1776,  to  the  31ft  of  December, 
1 781,  ten  millions,  and  eighty  three  thoufand,  eight  hundred 
and  fixty-three  pounds,  two  {hillings  and  fix-pence  fterling, 
were  transmitted  to  North- America,  for  the  extraordinary  fer- 
vices  of  the  Britifh  army,  within  that  period.  Of  thefe  ten  mil- 
,  it  is  to  be  apprehended,  that  five  or  fix  millions  were  p:i- 
I  on  their  way  to  the  public  fervice.  The  cornmiinoners 
give  long  details  of  fraud  and  imposition/  The  following  pailage 
is  a  Satisfactory  fpecimen  of  the  line  of  their  report ;  at  the 
fame  time,  that  it  condenies  much  interesting  information. 

iC  Of  the  ten  millions  and  upwards  that  have  been  iCued  for 
"  thefe  fervices  to  North-America,  within  the  laft  fix  years,  ac- 
"  counts  of  a  few  officers  only,  amounting  to  about  ©leven  hun- 
"  dred  thoufand  pounds,  have  been  as  yet  rendered  in  the  pro- 
"  per  office.  The  accounts  of  about  one  hundred  and  torty 
"  thoufand  pounds  more  are  ready  ;  fo  that  the  expenditure  of 

M 


(     9°     ) 

((  eight  millions,  and  feven  hundred  and  fixty  thoufand  pounds, 
(l  ftill  remains  to  be  accounted  for. 

"  By  an  account  of  the  yearly  average  number  of  his  majefty's 
*  forces  ferving  at  New-York,  and  its  dependencies,  from  the 
1  i  ft  of  January,  1 776,  to  the  3 1  ft  of  December,  1  7  80,  extracted 
w  from  returns  of  thofe  forces  made  to  us  from  the  war-office, 
"  puriuant  to  our  requifition,  it  appears  that  the  number  of  the 
<«  forces  decreafed  every  year  from  1778  ;  but,  from  the  ac- 
<;  counts  of  the  contractors  for  remitting,  the  iflue  for  the  extra-; 
*f  ordinary  fervices  of  that  army,  greatly  encreafed  during  the 
i(  fame  period. 

"  In  the  account  of  the  ilTues  to  the  officers  in  the  fourdepart- 
'*  ments,  we  find  that  the  warrants  iiTued  to  the  quarter-mafter 
i(  generals,  fince  the  16th  of  July,  1780,  and  to  the  barrack- 
"  mafter  general  fince  the  29th  of  June,  1780,  and  to  the  com- 
"  miflaries  general,  fince  the  25th  of  May,  1778,  have  been 
"  all  temporary,  for  fums  on  account  ;  that  no  final  warrant 
«c  has  been  granted  f.nce  thofe  feveral  periods.  So  that  thefe 
<€  fums  have  been  iftued,  without  even  the  ceremony  of  a  quar- 
<•'  terly  abftra£t,  and  the  confidential  reliance  on  the  oflicer,  that 
<c  his  vouchers  are  forth  corning. 

*  Of  thefe  ten  millions,  there  have  been.  irTued  to  Canada, 
«  between  the  iff  of  June,  1776,  and  the  23d  of  October  lait, 
"  two  millions,  two  hundred  and  thirty  fix  thoufand,  and  twen- 
<c  ty  pounds,  eleven  millings  and  feven-pence  ;  a  province, 
"  whofe  military  operations,  fince  the  year  1777,  the  public 
<  are  not  made  atqifainted  with.  This  iflue  has  been  increafing 
«<  every  year,  and  no  apparent  rcafon  for  it ;  and  upon  the  ex- 
44  penditure  in  this  province,  there  exifts  no  check  or  controul 
€\  that  we  know  of  whatever.  Thefe  are  circumftances  o£~fuJ}>i- 
(<  rion  and  alarm? 

The  following  law-fuit  deferves  particular  notice,  becaufe  the 
proceedings  which  give  rife  to  it,  were  not  the  actions  of  a  fingle 
individual,  but  compofed  a  deliberate  confpiracy  by  one  great 
toov  of  people  in  England,  againft  the  property  cf  another.  At 
the  fame  time  i;  ferves  to  exhibit  "  the  harmonious  concurrence, 
<c  the  elegant  proportion,  and  the  more  curious  refinement? of 
u  modern  art." 

In  the  year  1 748,  the  corporation  of  London  refolved  to  build 
a  manficn-houfe.  The  fcheme  required  money,  and  to  procure 
it,  they  pnfled  a  by-law.  They  pretended  to  be  anxious  for  get- 
tmgfit  and'  able  pcrfons  to  ferve  tlie  office  of  fheriff  to  the  cor- 
poration, and  they  impofed  a  fine  of  four  hundred  pounds  and 
twenty  marks  upon  every  perfon,  who,  being  nominated  by  the 
lord-mayor,  declined  to  ftand  the  election  in  the  common- 
hall.  Six  hundred  pounds  were  laid  upon  every  perfon,  who, 
Veing  elected  bv  the  ccmmon-hall,  refufed  to  ferve  that  office. 


(     9»     ) 

The  fines  thus  raifed,  were  appropriated  for  building  the  man- 
fion-houfe.  In  confequence  of  this  law,  feveral  diifenters  were 
nominated,  and  elected  to  the  office  of  flieriff.  By  the  corpora- 
tion act,  made  in  che  thirteenth  year  of  Charles  the  fecond,  no 
perfon  could  be  elected  as  fheriiT,  unlefs  he  had  taken  the  facra- 
ment,  in  the  church  of  England,  within  a  year  preceding  the 
time  of  his  election.  If  he  accepted  the  office,  without  this 
qualification,  he  was  exprefsly  punifhable  by  the  ftatute.  If  a 
diflenter,  therefore,  had,  in  virtue  of  fuch  an  election,  acted  as 
fheriff,  he  would  have  been  feverely  chaitifed.  Hence  the  gentle- 
men of  that  perfuafion  refufed  the  office,  and  paid  their  fines,  to 
the  amount  of  more  than  fifteen  thoufand  pounds  fterling.  One 
of  the  perfons  thus  elected  was  blind  ;  another  was  bed-ridden. 
Tliefe  were  the  Jit  and  able  perfons,  whom  the  corporation  of 
London  chofe  as  iheriffs.  The  practice  went  on  for  feveral  years. 

This  corporation  of  London  had  been  an  atfembly  of  the  moil 
arrant  fharpers,  or  fuch  a  project  for  building  a  manfion-houfe 
never  could  have  entered  into  their  minds.  It  is  impoffible,  that 
any  mortal,  pofTeffing  a  fpark  of  common  honelty,  ihould  have 
been  concerned  in  it.  At  lalt  Allen  Evans,  efq.  a  diffenter,  refufed 
to  pay  this  fine.  An  action  was  brought  againft  him  in  the  iheriif 
court  of  the  corporation  of  London  ;  and  in  September,  1757, 
judgment  was  given  againft  him.  He  appealed  to  the  court-  of 
huttings,  another  city  court,  and  in  1759,  the  judgment  was 
affirmed  a  iecond  time.  At  laft  it  came  before  the  houfe  of  lords, 
where,  on  the  4th  of  Februarv,  1767,  it  was  finally  fet  afide. 
We  are  not  informed  whether  Mr.  Evans  paid  his  own  expences. 
If  he  did  fo,  it  might  have  been  cheaper  for  him  to  pay  the  h*ne. 
On  this  occafion,  lord  Mansfield  pronounced  a  fpeech.  "  The  de- 
"  fendant,"  faid  his  lordfhip,  "  was  by  law  incapable,  at  the  time 
"  of  his  pretended  election  :  and  it  is  my  firm  perfuafion  that  he 
"  was  chofen  becaufe  he  was  incapable.  If  he  had  been  capable, 
"  he  had  not  been  chofen  :  for  they  did  not  want  him  to  ferve 
"  the  office.  They  chofe  him,  becaufe,  without  a  breach  of  the 
"  law,  and  an  ufurpation  on  the  crown,  he  could  not  ferve  the 
"  office.  They  chofe  him,  that  he  might  fall  under  the  penalty 
"  of  their  by-law,  made  to  ferve  a  particular  purpofe. — By  fuch  a 
"  by-law,  the  corporation  have  it  in  their  power,  to  make  every 
"  diffenter  pay  a  fine  of  fix  hundred  pounds,  or  any  Jum  they 
"  pleafe  ;  for  it  amounts  to  that."* 

In  this  fpeech,  lord  Mansfield  exprefTes  the  utmoft  deteftation 
againft  every  kind  of  religious  perfecution,  as  againft  natural  re- 
ligion, revealed  religion,  and  found  policy.  He  declares,  that  he 
never  read,  without  rapture,  the  liberal  ien,timents  of  De  Thou, 

*  Letters  to  the  honourable  Mr.  Juftice  Blackftone,by  PLilip  Ftuneaux,  D.  D 
Appendix,  2-.'u.  2. 


(     9*     ) 

on  this  fubject.  His  lordfhip  then  adds  thefe  remarkable  words. 
"  I  am  forty  that  of  late,  his  countrymen  (the  French,)  have  be- 
tl  gun  to  open  their  eyes,  fee  their  error,  and  adopt  his  fentiments. 
cc  I  mould  not  have  broke  my  heart,  (I  hope  I  may  fay  fo,  without 
"  breach  of  chrijiian  charity,)  if  France  had  continued  to  cherilh 
"  the  Jefuits,  and  toperfecute  the  hugunots."  When  Nei'o  fet  fire  to 
Rome,  or  when  Caligula  wiihed  that  the  Roman  people  had  on- 
ly one  neck,  they  might  have  been  partly  excufed,  as  either 
drunk  or  mad.  Neither  of  thefe  humble  apologies  can  be  ad- 
vanced for  lord  Mansfield.  When  the  Tartars  once  conquered 
China,  it  was  propofed,  in  a  council  of  war,  to  extirpate  the  in- 
habitants, and  turn  the  country  into  pafture.  As  his  lordfliip 
was  not  a  Tartar,  nor  had  any  profpecl:  of  driving  a  herd  of  cat- 
t'e  through  France,  he  Prill  remains  without  an  excufe  or  mo- 
tive, as  to  the  cafe  in  point,  that  could  lead  him  to  fuch  a  horrid 
fentiment.  We  (hall  quit  this  fubject,  with  a  fhort  citation  from 
fincere  Huron.  "He  talked,"  fays  Voltaire,  "  of  the  revo- 
c<  cation  of  the  edict  of  Nantes  with  fo  much  energy,  he  deplor- 
«•  ed,  in  fo  pathetic  a  manner,  the  fate  of  fifty  thoufand  fugitive 
"  families,  and  of  fifty  thoufand  others,  converted  by  dragoons, 
ct  that  the  ingenuous  Hercules  could  not  refrain  from  fhedding 
"  tears." 

It  is  foreign  to  the  plan  of  this  work,  to  enter  into  a  detail  of  all 
the  outrages  which  have  been  committed  upon  Englifh  diflenters; 
but  there  is  an  afTertion  in  a  letter  publifhed  by  George  Rous, 
enquire,  that  cannot  be-  pafled  over.  Speaking  of  the  late  riots  at 
Birmingham,  he  has  thefe  words.  "  Government  love  an  oc- 
"  cafional  riot,  which,  with  the  afliftance  of  the  military,  is  eafily 
M  fupprelTed  ;  in  the  mean  time,  it  alarms  the  votaries  of  a  for- 
('  did  luxury;  makes  them  crouch  for  protection ;  and  teaches 
((  them  patiently  to  endure  evils  impofed  by  the  hand  of  power. 
"  Accordingly,  for  more  than  a  month,  preceding  the  14th  of 
"  July,  all  the  daily  prints  in  the  interejl  of  the  treafury,  laboured  to 
"  excite  a  tumult."  He  adds,  "to  let  loofe  the  rigours  of  juflice, 
"  might  have  been  a  cruel  facrifice  of  their  friends  "  This  gen- 
tleman is  a  member  of  the  houfe  of  commons,  and  of  refpecta- 
ble  character  and  abilities.  He  thus  exprefsly  charges  the  Britifli 
rriiniftry  with  having  excited  incendiaries  to  burn  the  houfes  of 
able  citizens.  The  practice  of  Mr.  Pitt  correfponds  with 
the  theory  of  lord  Mansfield. 

An  acl:  of  religious  toleration  and  relief  is  to  take  place  in 
Scotland,  within  fix  months  after  the  iftof  July,  1792.  It  con- 
tains the  following  claufe.  "  If  any  perfon  {hall  be  prefent  twice 
"  in  the  fame  year,  at  divine  fervice,  in  any  epifcopal  chapel  or 
"  meeting-houfe  in  Scotland, whereof  the  pallor  or  minifier  fhall 
"  not  pray  in  exprefs  words  for  his  majefty,  by  name,  for  his 
"  majelty's  heirs  or  fuccefTors,  and  for  all  the  royal  family,  in 


(    93     ) 

"  the  manner  herein  before  directed,  every  perfon  fo  prefent, 
"  mail,  on  lawful  conviction  thereof,  for  the  firft  offence,  forfeit 
"  the  fum  of  five  pounds,  fterling  money."  One  half  of  the  fine 
goes  to  the  informer,  and  if  the  culprit  cannot  pay,  he  is  to  fuf- 
fcr  fix  months  of  imprifonment.  For  any  future  offence,  con- 
viction produces  two  years  of  imprifonment.  In  virtue  of  this 
act}  it  would  be  very  eafy  for  a  fwindltfig  parfoii  to  fleece  his  flock. 
He  has  only  to  get  his  chapel  as  completely  filled  as  pouible,  to 
place  two  or  three  informers  in  every  corner  of  it,  and  then,  ih 
his  prayers,  to  forbear  all  mention  of  his  moft  facred  majefty.  If 
four  hundred  perfons  were  prefent,  this  might  be  converted 
into  a  job  of  two  thoufand  pounds  fterling  ;  as  the  ftatute  makes 
no  exceptions  in  favour  o':  thofe  who  mould  interrupt  the  per- 
fon in  the  midft  of  the  fervice.  The  principal  actor  in  the  fiirce, 
might,  by  connivance,  abfeond  ;  but  there  is  flill  one  difficulty 
unprovided  for.  The  informers  themfelves  muft  have  been  pre- 
fent at  the  perpetration  of  this  crime,  and  therefore  they  are 
equally  guilty  with  the  reft  of  the  audience.  It  ought  to  be  fti- 
pulated,  that  every  informer  is,  in  the  firft  place,  to  receive  his 
own  pardon.  The  reft  of  the  act  is  of  a  piece. 

The  inftitution  of  Sunday-fchools,  was  at  firft  highly  popular 
in  England.  The  eftablifhed  clergy  have  iince  become  jealous  of 
the  plan,  and  Mr.  Rous,  himfeif  a  churchman,  gives,  in  his  letter, 
fome  authentic  and  ihameful  examples  of  this  fact.  The  church 
of  England,  in  fpite  of  many  excellent  characters  among  its 
divines,  appears  to  be  fomewhat  lame  in  its  political  principles. 
Its  champion,  Dr.  Tatham,  one  of  the  acling  incendiaries  at  Bir- 
mingham, publifhed  a  letter  fome  time  ago,which  has  thefe  words. 
"  It  would  be  a  terrible  thing,  indeed,  if  all  the  people  of  Eng- 
"  land  fhould  learn  to  read  and  write."  Since  the  publication 
of  his  letter,  Dr.  Tatham  has  received  a  promotion  in  one  of  the 
Englifh  univtrrfities,  an  article  of  intelligence  that  hath  been  for- 
mally announced  in  the  public  newfpapers.  From  this  circum- 
stance, it  appears,  that  certain  members  of  Englifh  univer- 
fities,  inftead  of  wanting  to  illuminate  the  minds  of  the  peo- 
ple, are  anxious  to  keep  them  in  the  dark.  From  their  approba- 
tion of  Dr.  Tatham,  a  natural  inference  is,  that  we  ought  all, 
as  quickly  as  pofiible,  to  forget  our  alphabet ;  and  confequent- 
ly,  that  univerfities  themfelves  are  to  become  ufelefs.  At  prefent 
fome  of  their  members  appear  to  be  much  worfe  than  ufelefs, 
fmce  they  defire  to  level  the  reft  of  their  fellow-creatures  to  the 
rank  of  dogs  and  horfes.  We  ought  to  have  prevented  the  citi- 
zens of  Bolton  and  Philadelphia  from  learning  ^o  read  and  write. 
If  they  had  not  been  able  to  read  their  charters,  they  hardly 
could  have  difcovered  the  breach  of  them.  Such  are  the  prefent 
principles  that  guide  the  internal  adminiilration  of  England. 
The  houfes  of  diffenters  are  burnt;  and  the  rabble  of  the  church 


(     94     ) 

are  to  be  prevented  from  learning  to  fubicribe  their  names. 
The  bafenefs  and  abfurdity  of  our  behaviour  to  foreign  nations 
vanifhes  in  an  abyfs  of  domeftic  infamy. 

No  man  has  any  bufmeis  to  interfere  with  the  religious  opi- 
nions of  his  neighbour.  As  for  a  national  church,  we  might  as 
well  fet  up  a  national  laboratory,  and  oblige  every  perfon  to  buy 
a  periodical  quantity  of  pills.  It  is  juft  as  reafonable  to  make  a 
man  pay  for  drugs  that  he  will  not  fwallow,  as  for  femions  that 
he  will  not  hear.  If  we  mult  have  tyrants,  ten  thoufand  apothe- 
caries would  be  lefs  peftiferous  than  a  corporation  of  ten  thou- 
fand fuch  vandals  as  Horfeley  and  Tatham.  If  every  clergyman 
had,  like  St.  Paul,  been  a  journeyman  carpenter,  and  delivered 
his  fermons  without  a  fee,  we  mould  not  have  heard  quite  lb 
much  of  theological  butchery.  Look  into  ecclehaftical  hiftory, 
and  you  will  there  fee,  that  in  confequence  of  epif copal  ambition, 
a  thoufand  pitched  battles  have  been  fought,  ten  thoufand  ci- 
ties have  funk  in  allies  and  blood,  a  million  of  gibbets  have  been 
eretted,  and  an  hundred  millions  of  throats  cut.  From  the  re- 
iteration of  Charles  the  fecond,  to  the  revolution,  a  fpace  of 
twenty  eight  years,  one  half  of  the  Scotch  nation  were  hunted 
like  hares  and  partridges,  by  bifhops  and  their  biped  blood- 
hounds. Englifhmen  have  infulted  the  reft  of  mankind,  as  ig- 
norant of  their  civil  and  religious  rights.  The  following  narra- 
tive will  explain  the  prefent  claim  of  England  to  the  epithet  of 
a  free  country,  and  whether  k  is  not,  in  fome  degree,  as  Dr. 
Jchnfon  fays  of  Jamaica,  "  a  den  of  tyrants,  and  a  dungeon  of 
«  llaves.', 

On  the  3d  of  July,  1789,  the  order  of  the  day  in  the  Britifh 
houfe  of  peers,  was  for  the  fecond  reading  of  the  bill  "  for  pre- 
"  venting  vexatious  proceedings  with  refpe£t  to  tythes,  dues, 
"  or  other  ecclehaftical,  or  fpiritual  profit."  Earl  Stanhope, 
who  had  brought  in  this  bill,  moved,  that  it  fhould  be  commit- 
ted. His  lordfhip  explained  the  religious  fcruples,  which  pre- 
vented quakers  from  paying  tythes.  Their  fcruples  were  recog- 
nized by  law.  By  an  a£t  of  parliament,  in  the  reign  of  king 
William,  it  was  enacted,  that  tythes  due  by  quakers,  might  be 
recovered  in  a  manner  different  from  tythes  due  by  any  other 
per  ions  *,  providing  always,  that  the  fum  to  be  levied,  was  under 
ten  pounds.  If  the  fum  was  higher,  they  were  ftill  at  the  mercy 
of  the  church;  fo  that  even  this  act  of  protection  was  very  defec- 
tive. The  earl  faid,  that  after  this  humane  law  had  paft,  the  com- 
mon way  of  recovering  tythes  from  a  quaker,  was  by  applicati- 
on to  two  juftices  of  the  peace,  who  granted  a  warrant  to  dif- 
trefs  his  goods.  Of  late,  fome  clergymen  have  not  been  con- 
tented with  recovering  their  tythes,  in  this  way,  but  have  feized 
and  imprifoned  the  quakers  themfelves.  About  two  months 
ago,  his  lordfhip  laid,  that  a  quaker,  a  man  of  fome  property, 


(    95     ) 

had  been  caft  into  the  common  jail  of  Worceftef  j  he  was  there 
itill,  and,  though  confined  for  a  fura  of  only  five  {hillings,  muji 
-n  there  for  life. 

The  act  of  William  is  in  itfelf  imperfect;  but  befides,  two 
methods  are  known,  by  which  it  can  be  evaded,  or  ilriclly  fpeak- 
ing,  contradicted.  In  the  fir  ft  place,  the  ftatute  bock,  that  jum- 
ble of  juridical  deformity,  contains  an  unrepealed  law,  pail  in 
the  reign  of  Henry  the  eighth,  *  which  affords  full  fcope  to  ec- 
cleiiaftical  vengeance.  By  this  act,  which  was  made  above  an 
hundred  vears  before  the  feet  cf  quakers  exifced,  when  am  man 
refufed  to  pay  his  tythe,  application  was  directed  to  be  n^ade 
to  two  justices  of  the  peace.  They  '  fhail  have  power  to  attach 
"  the  perfon  againft  whom  fuch  requeft  ihall  be  made, and  com- 
"  mit  him  to  ward,  there  to  remain,  without  bail  or  mainprize, 
*'■  until  he  fhall  have  found  fufficient  furety,  to  be  bound  by  re- 
"  cognizance  or  otherwife,  to  give  due  obedience  to  the  procefs, 
€i  decrees,  and  fentences  of  the  eceleiiairical  court."  Lord  Stan- 
hope fubjoined,  that  as  quakers,  by  their  religion,  never  can  give 
fuch  obedience,  this  law  is,  to  all  quakers,  imprifonmetit  for  life. 
By  feveral  other  acts,  the  refufal  to  pay  tythes,  makes  the  of- 
fender fubjeet  to  excommunication  in  a  fpiritual  court,  and  that 
again  is  to  be  followed  by  imprifonment.  The  fum  of  the  whole 
was,  that  the  act  paft  in  the  reign  of  William  to  protect,  the 
quakers^  had  no  real  value. 

At  Coventry,  his  lordfhip  ftated,  that  fix  quakers  had  lately 
been  profecuted  for  about  four-pence  each,  as  eafter  offerings* 
The  expenccs  of  the  fpiritual  court,  charged  againft  them,  came 
to  an  hundred  and  fixty-five  pounds,  eleven  {hillings  fterling. 
Their  own  expences  were  an  hundred  and  twenty-eight  pounds 
one  {hilling  and  fix-pence.  Two  (hillings  of  eaiter  offerings  were 
thus  to  coft  two  hundred  and  ninety-three  pounds,  twelve  {hil- 
lings and  fix-pence  of  expences.  The  authors  of  this  profecu- 
tion  could,  by  application  to  two  juitices  of  the  peace,  have  re- 
covered their  two  Ihillings,  at  the  charge  of  perhaps  two  or 
three  guineas.  «  As,  by  their  religion,  the  quakers  can  never 
"  pay,  nor  any  of  the  other  quakers  for  them,  iome  of  them  ha^  e 
"  been  excommunicated  ;  the  confequence  of  which  is,  that 
"  they  cannot  act  as  executors,  that  they  cannot  fue  in  any 
"  court,  to  recover  any  debt  due  to  them,  and  in  forty  days  af- 

*  An  hundred  fheets  of  paper  would  not  be  large  enough  to  contain  the 
catalogue  of  bis  majefh's  crimes.  "He  was  firicere, open,  gallant,  liberal,  and 
"  capable  at  leaft  of  a  temporary  friendihip  and  attachment."  Hfftory  of  the 
houfe  of  Tudor,  by  Mr.  Hume,  chap.  vii.  He  murdered  his  wife  Anne  Bo- 
ley  ne,  by  the  verdift  of  a  iurv  of  twenty-fii  Englifh  peers;  a  verdict  that  ihews 
what  wretches  both  peers  and  jurors  may  fometisaes  be.  The  day  after  the  maf- 
faere  of  this  unfortunate  woman,  he  married  another.  In  the  courle  of  his 
Reformation,  ninety  colleges,  and  an  hundred  and  ten  hoipitals,  for  the  relief  of 
the  poor,  \wrtby  ^::c  act  or  parliament  annihilated. 


(     96     ) 

*<  ter  excommunication,  they  are  liable  to  be  fen  t  to  prifon, 
t(  there  to  remain  til!  death  ihall  deliver  them  from  a  jail,  where 
«  they  may  be  dying  for  years,  and  prim  by  inches  ;  and  this 
u  merely  for  the  fake  of  a  Jew  pence\  which  few  pence  even  might 
M  have  been  immediately  recovered  by  means  of  the  humane  aci 
"  of  king  William,  had  the  prieft  thought  Jit."*  It  was  criminal  in 
the  legiflature  to  leave  them  at  his  mercy. 

"  Thefe,"  laid  earl  Stanhope,  "  are  inftances  of  ecclefiaftical 
**  tyranny  and  oppreffion,  and  of  cold,  deliberate,  and  confum- 
"  mate  cruelty,  which  would  difgrace  any  fet  of  men  whatever." 
Some  perfons  at  Coventry,  who  were  nor  of  the  fociety  of 
friends,  raifed  money  by  fubfeription,  to  put  a  flop  to  the  pro- 
fecutions  againft  thefe  fix  men.  But  lord  Stanhope  was  of  opi- 
nion, that  the  remedy  would  be  dangerous,  if  not  fatal,  to  the 
whole  fociety.  This  example  of  humanity  would  only  ferve  to 
whet  the  avarice  of  the  proctors  of  the  fpiritual  court.  "  Every 
"  quakef  in  the  kingdom,"  faid  his  lordfhip,  «/  may,  as  the  law 
"  now  flands,  be  imprifonedjor  life ;  and  it  is  the  more  cruei,for 
"  perfons  fo  imprifoned,  are  not  admitted  to  bail."  The  bill  that 
gave  rife  to  thefe  remarks  was  rejected. 

The  philofcphical  ideas  of  Dr.  Tatham  have  made  conside- 
rable progrefs  among  his  countrymen.  In  Scotland,  it  is  the 
bittcicft  reproach  to  tell  any  man  that  even  his  grand-father 
could  net  read.  In  England,  the  cafe  is  fometimes  otherwife  ; 
and  the  utter  deflitutioix  of  acquaintance  with  an  alphabet,  is 
vifible  in  the  grefs  manners  of  fome  individuals  among  the  or- 
dinary clafies.  The  difgraceful  practice  of  boxing,  continues  to 
be  highly  popular  in  England.  Thirty,  forty,  or  fifty  thoufand 
pounds  are  fometimes  betted  among  the  fpectatoys,  on  the  pro- 
wefs  of  a  favourite  champion.  Ten  thoufand  perfons  have  been 
known  to  travel  fifty  miles  to  attend  a  match  of  this  kind;  which 
is  always  accompanied  by  a  variety  of  inferior  battles  amongit 
the  mob.  The  price  for  tickets  of  admiffiem  within  the  pali- 
fadoes,  is  commonly  half  a  guinea  ;  but  they  are  very  frequently 
overturned,  in  the  courfe  of  the  combat,  by  the  tempeftuous 
curiofity  of  the  rabble.  The  high  roads  from  London  to  the 
fcene  of  acTIon  are,  on  fuch  occafons,  cfbuded  with  carriages 
aiid  horfemen  •,  and  the  inns  and  ale-houfes,  for  a  considerable 
diftance  round  the  country,  are  fhure  of  being  overwhelmed 
with  cuitomers.  It  is  ufual  for  the  partifans  of  each  combatant 
to  bring  cockades  in  their  pockets  ;  which,  if  he  gains  the  vic- 
tory, are  transferred  to  their  hats.  The  firft  nobility  and  gentry 
make  no  fcruple  to  officiate  on  the  itage  as  umpires,  bottle-hol- 
ders, and  feconds.  They  commence  pupils  to  the  «  profeflbrs  of 
M  the  fcience  of  pugillifm,"  and  are  ambitious  of  being  confulted  in 

*  Debrett's  parlian.entary  debates,  vol.  26,  part  feccnd,p.  264. 


(     97     ) 

fettling  the  terms  of  a  match.  One  of  the  various  treatifes  on 
this  noble  fubject  has  been  dedicated  to  Lord  Barrymore,  with 
rapturous  encomiums  on  his  Lordfhip's  proficiency  in  the  art. 
The  antagonifts  are  ufually  knocked  down  ten,  fifteen,  or  twenty 
times,  before  the  contelt  comes  to  an  end.  The  printers  of  news- 
papers difpatch  emiilaries  to  the  fpot  ;  and  fortunate  is- he  who 
can  obtain,  by  exprefs,  the  raoft  early  detail  ot  the  particulars  of 
the  engagement ;  which  are  transferred  into  the  monthly  ma- 
gazines for  the  edification  of  the  riling  age. 

In  Scotland  or  Ireland,  an  Englishman,  who  behaves  properly, 
may  refule,  to  the  end  of  his  life,  without  hearing  a  [ingle  na- 
tional reproach.  But  one-half  of  the  inhabitants  of  England 
difplay  die  moit  illiberal  contempt  for  the  reit  of  mankind,  that 
ever  diilinguiihed  a  civilized  people.  "  Some  years  ago,"  fays 
Dr.  Wendebom,  "  fcarcely  any  body  durft  fpeak  French  in  the 
"  ftreets  of  London,  or  in  public  places,  without  running  the 
«*  rifque  of  being  infulted  by  the  populace,  who  took  any  fo- 
"  reign  language  to  be  French  ;  and  frequently  fainted  him,  who 
"  fpoke  what  they  did  not  underftand,  with  the  appellation  of 
«  French  dog."  This  practice  becomes  highly  ridieuious,  when 
we  reflect  that  London  attords  a  hofpitable  rendezvous  to  half 
the  fwindlers,  qu*eks,  and  adventurers  in  Europe  ;  nor  is  there 
any  other  nation,  which,  both  abroad  and  at  home,  affords  fuch. 
numerous  and  egregious  bubbles.  On  the  continent,  an  Englilh 
traveller  is  conftantly  marked  out  by  landlords,  tradefmen,  con- 
noiffeurs,  and  fiddlers,  as  a  victim  of  peculiar  impofition  \  though 
it  is  true,  that  thefe  gentry  very  frequently  find  themfeives  rni£ 
taken.  In  the  laffc  century,  England  pofTefTed  a  very  extemhe 
commerce  in  the  Levant ;  and  the  polite  cultom  above  quoted 
from  Dr.  Wendeborn,  has,  very  likely,  been  imported  from  the 
ftreets  of  Constantinople,  the  only  other  metropolis,  at  leaft  on 
the  furface  of  this  planet,  where  it  is  ufual  to  addrefs  itrangers 
with  a  fimilar  falutation. 


lamnmm 


CHAPTER      V. 

Civil  lift — Accumulation  of  fifteen  millions — Dog  kennels— George 
the  firfi — His  liberal  ideas  of  government — George  the  fecond — 
His  ho/pit  ality  at  the  burial  of  his  eldeft  Jon — Excfe. 

"   TT  is  impofiible  to  maintain  that  dignity,  which  a  king  of 

J[  "  Great-Britain  ought  to  maintain,  with  an  income  in  any 

"  degree  lefsy   than   what  is  now  eitabliihed   by  parliament."* 

*  Commentaries  on  the  Laws  of  England,  by  Sir  William  Blackftone.  Book  I, 
chap.  viii.  r 

N 


(     98     ) 

£ir  John  Sinclair  has  given  a  long  account  of  the  civil  lift.  By 
this,  it  appears,  that  between  two  ami  three  hundred  thoufand 
pounds  annually  are  paid  out  of  it,  for  efficient  officers  of  ilatc, 
ambafiadors  and  judges,  for  example.  In  1785,  the  royal  fami- 
jy,  with  its  fiddlers,  chaplains,  wet  nurfes,  lords  of  the  bed- 
chamber, rockers,  groom  of  the  flole,  and  nymphs  of  the  clofe- 
ftool,  a  ftation  worth  forty-eight  pounds  a  year,  coil  all  toge- 
ther, about  fix  hundred  and  fixty  thoufand  pounds  fterling.  Mr. 
Burgh  fpeaks  in  the  following  terms  of  the  civil  lift. 

"  There  we  find  places  piled  on  places,  to  the  height  of  the 
"  tower  of  Babel.  There  we  find  a  mailer  of  the  houfehold, 
"  treafurer  of  the  houfehold,  comptroller  of  the  houfehold,  cof- 
(<  ferer  of  the  houfehold,  deputy-cofferer  of  the  houfehold, 
«f  clerks  of  trie  houfehold,  clerks  comptrollers  of  the  houfehold, 
f(  clerks  comptrollers  deputy-clerks  of  the  houfehold,  office- 
<c  keepers,  chamber-keepers,  neceflary-houfe-keepers,  purveyors 
c<  of  bread,  purveyors  of  wine,  purveyors  of  fifh,  purveyors  of 
€(  butter  and  eggs,  purveyors  of  confectionary,  deliverers  of 
«  greens,  coffee-women,  fpicery-men,  fpicery-men's  afliftant- 
"  clerks,  ewry-men,  ewry-men's  alfiflant-clerks,  kitchen-cierks 
w  comptrollers,  kitchen-clerk-comptroller's  firil  clerks,  kitchen- 
u  clerk-comptroller's  junior  clerks,  yeomen  of  the  mouth, 
«  under  yeomen  of  the  mouth,  grooms,  grooms  children,  paf- 
**  try-yeomcn,  harbingers,  harbingers'  yeomen,  keepers  of  ice- 
<c  houfes,  cart-takers,  cart-taker's  grooms,  bell-ringers,  cock  and 
<(  cryer,  table-deckers,  water-engine  turners,  ciflern-cleaners, 
(<  keeper  of  fire-buckets,  and  a  thoufand  or  two  more  of  the  fame 
**  kind,  which  if  I  were  to  fet  down,  I  know  not  who  would 
«'  take  the  trouble  of  reading  them  over.  Will  any  man  fay,  and 
**  keep  his  countenance,  that  one,  in  one  hundred  of  thtfe  hang- 
<f  ers-on  is  of  any  real  ufe  ?  Cannot  our  good  king  have  a  poach- 
€i  ed  egg  for  his  fupper,  unlefs  he  keeps  a  purveyor  of  eggs,  and 
u  his  clerks,  and  his  clerks  deputy-clerks,  at  an  expence  of  five 
Ci  hundred  pounds  a  year,  while  the  nation  is  finking  in  a  bot- 
"  tomlefs  ocean  of  debt?  Again  j  who  are  they,  the  yeomen  of 
"  the  mouth,  and  who  are  the  under-yeomen  of  the  mouth? 
"  What  is  their  bufinefs?  What  is  it  to  yeoman  a  king's  mouth  ? 
"  What  is  the  neceflity  for  a  cofferer,  where  there  is  a  treaiur- 
€t  er?  And,  where  there  is  a  cofferer,  what  occafion  for  a  de- 
Ci  puty-cofferer?  Why  a  neceffary-houfe  keeper?  Cannot  a  king 
<f  have  a  water-clcfet,<7Wir<?/>  the  key  of  it  in  his  o*w?i  pocket  ?  And 
"  my  little  cock  and  cryer,  what  can  be  his  poft  ?  Does  he  come 
"  under  the  king's  chamber-window,  and  call  the  hour,  mi- 
"  micking  the  crowing  of  the  cock  ?  This  might  be  of  ufe  be- 
"  fore  clocks  and  watches,  efpecially  repeaters,  were  invented; 
"  but  feems  as  fuperfluous  now,  as  the  deliverer  of  greens,  the 
"  coffee-women,    fpicery   men's    afuftant-clerks,   the    kitchen- 


(    99    ) 

"  comptroller's  firft  clerks  and  junior  clerks,  the  grooms'  chil* 
"  dren,  the  harbinger's  yeomen,  &c.  Does  the  maintaining  fuch 
"  a  number  of  idlers  fuit  the  prelent  flate  of  our  finances?  When 
™  will  frugality  be  neceiTary,  if  noc  now?  Queen  Anne  gave 
"  an  hundred  thoufand  pounds  a  year  to  the  public  fervice.* 
"  We  pay  debts  on  the  civil  lift  of  fix  hundred  thoufand 
"  pounds  in  one  article,  without  a/king  haw  there  comes  to  be  a  de- 
«  fe'iency."f 

The  following  converfations,  on  the  fame  fubject,  betweeen 
the  late  princefs  of  Wales  and  Mr.  Dodington,  cannot  fail  to  ex- 
cite the  attention  and  furpriie  of  every  reader.  "  She,"  the  prin- 
cefs, "  laid,  that  notwithstanding  what  I  had  mentioned  of  the 
"  king's  kindnefs  to  the  children,  and  civility  to  her,  thofe  things 
"  did  not  impofe  upon  her  \  that  there  were  other  things  which 
M  fhe  could  not  get  over  -,  fhe  wifhed  the  king  was  lefs  civil,  and 
"  that  he  put  lefs  of  their  money  into  his  own  pocket;  that  he 
"  got  full  thirty  thoufand  pounds  per  annum,  by  the  poor  prince's 
14  death.  If  he  would  but  have  given  them  the  duchy  of  Corn- 
"  wall  to  have  paid  his  debts,  it  would  have  been  fomething. 
"  Should  refentments  be  carried  beyond  the  grave?  Should  the 
M  innocent  fuffer?  Was  it  becoming  fo  great  a  king  to  leave  his 
"fin's  debts  unpaid?  and  fuch  inconfiderable  debts  ?  I  afked  her 
"  what  fhe  thought  they  might  amount  to  ?  She  anfwered,  fhe 
<k  had  endeavoured  to  know,  as  near  as  a  perfon  could  properly 
"  enquire,  who,  not  having  it  in  her  power,  could  not  pretend  to 
"  pay  them.  She  thought,  that,  to  the  tradefmen  and  fervants, 
"  they  did  not  amount  to  ninety  thoufand  pounds ;  that  there 
"  was  fome  money  owing  to  the  earl  of  Scarborough,  and  that 
"  there  was,  abroad,  a  debt  of  about  feventy  thoufand  pounds. 
"  That  this  hurt  her  exceedingly,  though  Che  did  not  fhew  it.  I 
"  faid,  that  it  was  impoflible  to  new-make  people  ;  the  king  could 
"  not  now  be  altered,  and  that  it  added  much  to  the  prudence 
tc  of  her  conduct,  her  taking  no  notice  of  it.  She  faid,  me  could 
"  not,  however,  bear  it,  nor  help  fomecimes  giving  the  king  to 
"  underftand  her,  in  the  flrongeft  and  molt  difagreeable  light. 
"  She  had  done  it  more  than  once,  and  the  would  tell  me  how 
"  it  happened  the  lad  time.  You  know,  continued  flie,  that  the 
"  crown  has  a  power  of  refumption  of  Carleton  houfe  and  gar- 
"  dens  for  a  certain  funa.  The  king  had,  not  long  fmce,  an  in- 
u  clination  to  fee  them,  and  he  came  to  make  me  a  vifit  there. 
"  We  walked  in  the  gardens,  and  he,  feeming  mightily  pleafed 
"  with  them,  commended  them  much,  and  told  me  that  he  was 
u  extremely  glad  I  had  got  fo  very  pretty  a  place.    I  replied,  it 

*  The  reader  may  be  acquainted  with  the  progrefs  and  termination  of  this 
acl  of  royal  munificence,  by  comulting  anecdotes  of  the  carl  »f  Chatham,  a^i^- 
to  edition,  vol.  il,p.  53. 

f  X^olitical  Dnquiiitioiis,  vol.  II.  p.  128. 


(      ioo     ) 

"  was  a  pretty  place,  but  that  the  prettinefs  of  a  place  was  an 
li  objection  to  it,  when  one  was  not  lure  to  keep  it.    The  king 
"Taid,  that  there    was,  indeed,  a  power  of  relumption  in  the 
<l  crown,  for  four  thbufand  pounds,  but  fureiy,  I  could  not  ima- 
"  gine  fcnat  it  could  ever  be  made   ufe  of  againft   me!     How 
€t  could  fuch  a  though:  come  into  my  head?    I  aniwered,  no  ; 
<<  it  was  libt  that  which  I  was  afraid  of,  but  I  was  afraid,  there 
i(  kvere  they  -who  had  a  betit  r  right  to  it,  than  either  the  crown  or 
"  /.   He  faid,  oh!  no,  no,  1  do  not  under/land  that;  that  cannot  be. 
'«  I  replied,  I  did  not  pretend  to  underitand  .thoie  things,  but  I 
il  was  afraid,  there  iv  ere  fuch  people.  He  faid,  Oh!  1  know  nothing 
"'of  that.  1  do  not  underjiand  it  ,•  and  immediately  turned  the   dif- 
« courfe.    I  was  pleafed  with  the  ingenuity  of   the  attack,   but 
*{  could  not  help  fmiling  at  the  defence,  nor  {he  neither,  when 
«  me  told  it."* 

This  prineefs  was  mother  to  the  prefent  king  of  England;- 
and  thefe  debts  of  her  huiband,  the  prince  of  Wales,  are  {till 
unpaid.  The  Englilh  laws  have  declared,  that  the  king  can  do  no 
wrong.  This  maxim  juftifi.es  George  the  third  for  neglecting  to 
pay  the  fervants  and  tradefmen  of  his  father.  But  it  a  private 
perfon  had  behaved  in  the  fame  way,  his  conduct  would  have 
been  regarded  as  the  moft  {habby,  diihonourable,  ungrateful, 
and  even  difhoneft,  that  can  be  imagined.  The  lofs  of  thefe 
ninety  thoufand  pounds  mult  have  injured,  or  perhaps  ruined, 
a  multitude  of  families,  bcfides  the  feventy  thoufand  pounds 
owing  abroad,  which  may  have  reduced  fome  very  honeft  men 
to  inibivency.  At  the  fame  time,  the  king  of  England  has  the 
command  of  more  ready  cam  than  any  man  in  Europe ;  and  as  if 
Europe  itielf,  with  ail  its  repositories,  were  not  futEcient  to  con- 
tain his  wealth,  he  has  lodged  large  fums  in  the  public  funds  of 
North- America. 

«  We  talked  of  the  king's  accumulation  of  treafure,  which 
"  (lie  reckoned  at  four  millions.  I  told  her,  that  what  was  be- 
"  come  of  it,  how  employed,  where,  and  what  was  left,  1  did 
"  not  pretend  to  guefs  ;  but  that  I  computed  the  accumulation 
«  to  be  from  twelve  to  fifteen  millions.  That  thefe  things,  with- 
"  in  a  moderate  degree,  perhaps  lefs  than  a  fourth  part,' could 
"  be  proved  beyond  all poj/ibility  of  a  denial ;  and,  when  the  cafe 
"  fhouid  exilt,  would  be  puhiifhed  in  controveriiai  pamphlets."f 
One  might  fuppofe  this  accumulation  to  be  incredible,  but  the 
affair  admits  of  an  eaiy  folution.  In  1756,  Dr.  Shebbeare  pub- 
lished letters  to  the  people  of  England.  In  the  third  letter,  he 
fays,  that  "  during  wars  carried  on  lolely  for  Germanic  interefts, 
"  the  Englifh  have  fpent  in  paying  and  fuftaining  thofe  powers, 

*  Dodington's  Diary,  p.  167. 
f  Ibid.  p.  190. 


(      ioi      ) 

f  twenty-eight  millions,  hiring  princes  and  people  to  defend  their 
«  own  territories,  and   protect   their   own  properties. — Of  this 
u  fum,  tiuo  millions  three  hundred  thoufand  pounds,  Englilh  money, 
"  has  been  paid  to  the  elector  of  Hanover,  as  fubfidies  for  troops 
"  hired  to  defend  their  own  country. — Since  the  blefled  accef- 
"  fion  of  this  family  to  the  throne  of  thefe  realms,  the  elector 
"  of  Hanover  muft  have  been  enabled  to  lave,  from  rds  Ger-  - 
«  manic  revenues,  by  not  rehding  on  the  lpot,  at  leait  tiuo  hurt- 
"  dred  thou  [and  pounds  annually.  Thefe  funis,  without  entering 
«  into  a  itrict  calculation  of  encreafing  intereft,  like  a  Change- 
«  Alley  broker,  and  yet  not  rejecting  it,  muit,   without  doubt, 
"  have  doubled  themfelves  to  the  amount  oijlxteen  millions  four 
<«  hundred  th  ,uf and  pounds  T  Dr.  Shehbearewas  lent  to  the  phlory, 
but  that  does  not  affect  the  force  of  his  facts.  Befides  all  this 
money,  and  his   falary  as  king,    George   the   fecond   extracted 
from  parliament  many  very  large   rums,  to   the  extent  of  five 
hundred   thoufand   pounds  at  once,  as  will  be  fully  detailed  in 
another  place.     The   aifertion  of  Mr.  Dodington  is,  ill  itfel^ 
extremely  probable,  and  the  authenticity  of  the  Diary  has  been 
univerfaily  admitted.  It  is  much  to  be  lamented,  that  a  gov. la- 
ment, formed,  as  Sir  William  Blackftone  fays,  upon  fuel 
foundations,  was  not  able  to  hold  America  in  abfolute  fuhje£tion. 
If  the  contents  of  this  iingle  chapter  could  have  been  pubiiihed 
in  that  country,  at  the  commencement  of  the  late  revclution,  it 
is  next  to  impoHiblc  that  fuch  a  being  as  an  American  tory  would 
have  exifted.  The  colonies  did  not  feem  to  have  known  one  hun- 
dredth part  of  the  reafons  which  they  really  had  for  ftrivwg  to 
break  our  parliamentary  handcuffs. 

In  1755,  Mr.  Pitt  had  a  conference  with  the  duke  of  New- 
caitle,  which  has  been  recorded  by  Mr.  Dodington.  A  fliort 
fpecimen  may  ferve  to  fhew  how  the  Briti ih  nation  has  been 
bubbled  by  government.  "  The  duke  mumbled  that  the  Saxon 
"  and  Bavarian  fubfidies  were  offered  and  prejfed,  but  there 
"  was  nothing  done  in  them  ;  that  the  Heflian  was  perfected, 
'*  but  the  Ruffian  was  not  concluded.  Whether  the  duke  meant 
"  uniigned,  or  unratified,  we  cannot  tell,  but  we  underftand  it 
"  is  jigned.  When  his  grace  dwelt  fo  much  upon  the  king's  ho- 
"  nour,  Mr.  Pitt  aiked  him,  what,  if  out  of  the  fifteen  mil- 
"  lions  which  the  king  had  faved,  he  mould  give  his  kinfman  of 
"  Heffe  one  hundred  thoufand  pounds,  and  the  czarina,  one 
"  hundred  and  fifty  thoufand  pounds,  to  be  off  from  thefe 
"  bad  bargains,  and  not  fuffer  the  fuggeltions,  fo  dange- 
"  rous  to  his  own  quiet,  and  the  fafety  of  his  family,  to  be 
"  thrown  out,  which  would,  and  muft  be,  infilled  upon  in  a 
"  debate  of  this  nature  ?  Where  would  be  the  harm  of  it  ?  The 
"  duke  had  nothing  to  fay,  but  defired  they  might  talk  it  over 
"  again  with  the  chancellor.  Mr.  Pitt  replied,  he  was  at  their 


(       102       ) 

<(  command,  though  nothing  could  alter  his  opinion  "\  Much  has 
been  faid  about  the  integrity  of  Mr.  Pitt.  It  was  the  extremity 
oi  bafenefs  in  him  and  others,  to  keep  fuch  a  fecret.  This  man 
has  been  very  lucky,  in  gaining  a  popular  character.  We  ad- 
mire his  integrity,  and  the  Americans,  even  at  this  day,  revere 
his  generous  exertions  in  their  behalf.  He  declared  loudly,  in  par- 
liament, that  he  would  not  fufrer  the  colonies  to  manufatlure  a 
hob-nail  for  a  horfe-fhoe. 

The  reader  will  here  obferve,  that  thirty-feven  years  have  elapf- 
ed  fince  George  the  fecond  had  faved  fifteen  millioms  from 
the  civil  lift.  It  has  been  faid  above,  that  a  fum  at  five  per  cent. 
of  compound  intereft,  doubles  itfelf  in  fourteen  years  and  an 
hundred  and  five  days.  Now,  at  this  rate,  thefe  fifteen  millions 
would,  in  thirty-feven  years,  have  multiplied  to  more  than  ninety- 
one  millions  and  an  half.  It  is  indeed  true,  as  Mr.  Dodington 
fays,  that  we  cannot  tell  what  has  become  of  it,  or  hoiv  ii  has  been  em- 
ployed, but  we  know  that  none  of  the  money  has  been  applied  to 
the  national  fervice.  We  have  fince  paid  feveral  large  arrears  into 
which  the  civil  lift  had  fallen,  and  an  hundred  thoufand  pounds 
per  annum,  have  been  added  to  the. royal  falary.  At  the  fame  time, 
the  nation  has  been  borrowing  money  to  pay  that  falary,  the  ex- 
pences  of  Gibraltar  and  Canada,  for  the  fupport  of  the  war-fy- 
ftem,  and  other  matters,  nominally  at  three  or  four  per  cent,  but 
in  reality,  fometimes  at  five  and  an  ha.\f per  cent.  To  thefe  fifteen 
millions,  we  may  fafely  add  a  million  for  the  expences  of  col- 
lecting it  from  the  people ;  and  let  us  again  revert  to  the  prin- 
ciple, tnat  a  fum  taken  from  their  purfes,  brings  a  real  lofs  of  ten 
per  cent.  At  this  rate  of  compound  intereft,  the  fixteen  millions 
would  double  themfelves  once  in  feven  years  and  fifty-three  days, 
or  five  times  in  thirty-feven  years  and  nine  months.  By  this  rotal 
manoeuvre,  the  public  hath  loft  five  hundred  and  twelve  millions 
fterling.  Thefe  fixteen  millions,  if  left  in  our  pockets,  would  have 
made  the  national  debt  as  light  as  a  feather,  and  all  our  taxes,  a 
trifling  burthen.  Great  part  of  the  money,  if  not  the  whole,  was 
fent  to  Hanover,  and  thus  utterly  loft  to  Britain. 

The  princefs  dowager  of  Wales,  mother  to  George  the 
third,  once  obferved  to  Mr.  Dodington,  that  "  She  wifhed 
"  Hanover  in  the  fea,  as  the  caufe  of  all  our  misfortunes."  Since 
the  year  1 7 14,  Britain  has  been  dragged  after  that  electorate,  like 
a  man  of  war  in  the  tow  of  a  bum-boat.  Hence  the  royal  ac- 
cumulation of  fifteen  millions  fterling ;  and  "  hence  it  follows 
"  of  neceflity,  that  vaft  numbers  of  our  people  are  compelled  to 
"  feek  their  livelihood  by  begging,  robbing,  ftealing,  cheating, 
"  pimping,  flattering,  fuborning,  forfwearing,  forging,  gaming, 
«  lying,  fawning,  hectoring,  voting,  fcribbling,  ftar-gazing,  poi- 

■f  Dodington's  Diary,  p.  373. 


(     '03     ) 

««  foiling,  whoring,  canting,  libelling,  free-thinking,  and  the  like 
"  occupations."* 

The  fum  above  Rated,  might  have  been  employed  in  clearing, 
and  planting  the  wafte  lands  of  Britain  and  Ireland.  In  Hamp- 
fhire,  there  is  a  tract  of  land,  about  ten  or  twelve  miles  fquare, 
all  in  one  body,  that  ftill  lies  in  a  ftate  of  nature.  Salilbury  plains 
are  covered  witli  deer-parks.  In  an  extent  of  about  iixteen  miles 
long,  and  five  miles  broad,  we  meec  with  five  lodges,  where  the 
deer  throng  in  crouds,  and  are  regularly  fed.  Thefe  particulars 
are  inferted  on  the  authority  of  a  refpecl:able  gentleman,  weJl 
acquainted  with  that  part  of  England.  Other  examples  of  the 
fame  fort  might  be  given,  even  in  England,  though  that  is  by  far 
the  molt  populous  and  bed  cultivated  part  of  the  three  kingdoms. 
Many  large  traces  are  ftill  fuifered  to  lie  in  commons,  that  is,  in 
natural  grafs,  which  would  produce  ten  times  their  prefent  value 
of  crops,  if  properly  ploughed  and  manured.  As  to  Scotland  and 
Ireland,  feven-eighths  of  the  foil  is  at  this  moment  in  a  ftate  of 
nature,  not  the  (mailed  attempt  having  ever  been  made  for  its 
improvement.  Six  miles  below  Dumfries,  and  about  a  mile  from 
a  feat  of  lord  Stormont's,  there  is  an  extent  of  four  or  five  miles 
fquare,  fometimes  covered  by  the  tide,  which  has  broke  in  upon 
it  within  the  laft  fifty  years.  It  is  furr'junded  on  two  fides  by  dry 
land,  and  could  be  eafily  recovered  from  Solway  Frith.  The 
ileech  is  now  carried  off  in  large  quantities  for  manure.  At  the 
fame  time  we  are  fighting  for  iilands  in  the  Weft-Indies,  like  the 
dog  in  the  fable,  who  dropped  xhzfubjlance,  while  fnapping  at  the 
Jljadoiu.  Befides  Salifbury  plains,  there  are  numerous  deer-parks. 
At  Goodwood,  in  SufTex,  the  duke  of  Richmond  has  a  park  tor 
game  four   miles  round.    The   dog-kennel  coft  ten  thoufand 

*  Gulliver's  Travels,  part  iv. 

To  this  enumeration  may  be  added  fronting.  In  I763,the  amount  of  franked 
letters  was,  one  hundred  and  feventy  thoufand,  feven  hundred  pounds.  Black- 
ftone's  Commentaries,  book  I.  chap.  8.  At  that  time,  thet\vN>  houles  of  parliament 
contained,  perhaps,  feven  hundred  and  fifty  members,  for  Engliih  peers  were  lefs 
numerous  then  than  they  are  now.  At  a  medium,  this  fum  was  equal  to  an  an- 
nuity of  two  hundred  and  twentv-feven  pounds,  twelve  (hillings  fter  ling  for  each 
member.  Some  commoners  paid  the  wages  of  their  footmen  with  franks,  at  half 
a  crown  par  dozen.  About  fixteen  years  ago,  Sir  Robert  Herrics,  a  banker  in 
London,  obtained  a  feat  as  member  for  the  five  Seots  boroughs,  included  in  the 
diftrict  of  Dumfries.  His  object  was  laid  to  be,  the  faving  of  poftaje  on  all  letters 
directed  to  his  office.  This  was  computed  at  feven  hundred  pounds  fterling  a  year. 
Mr.  Pitt  has  made  fome  very  proper  regulations  on  this  head.  He  was  warmly 
oppofed  by  Edmund  Burke. 

In  the  Hebrides,  four  places  excepted,  no  poft-office  is  efhblifhed.  "  A  letter 
"  from  Skye  to  Lewis,  the  direct,  diftance  but  a  few  leagues,  if  fent  by  port,  muft 
"  travel  about  twelve  hundred  miles -,  before  it  can  reach  the  place  of  its  deftination." 
Dr.  Anderfon's  Introduction,  p.  28.  One  is  at  a  lofs  to  conceive,  on  what  account 
the  Scots,  during  the  American  war  alTumed,in  general, fuch  a  rancorous  antipa- 
thy to  the  caufe  of  the  United  States.  Their  zeal  for  the  Englifh  government  vva« 
violent ;  yet  as  juftly  might  an  ox  feel  attachment  to  the  farmer  who  fattens  him 
for  the  market. 


(      I04     ) 

pounds.  There  are  twenty  game-keepers.  Before,  the  revolution 
in  France,  above  a  thoufand  partridge  eggs  were  brought  every 
jrear,  from  that  country.  The  importation  is  now  itopf.  At  pre- 
sent, his  grace  keeps  only  forty  pair  of  hounds  at  Goodwood. 
Some  years  ago,  it  was  mentioned  in  the  newfpapers,  that  the 
duke  of  Bedford,  for  the  purpofe  of  hunting,  had  purchafed,  ami 
brought  over  from  France,  fome  hundreds  of  live  foxes.  He  is. 
at  this  time,  building  at  Wooburn,  a  dog-kennel;  the  expence 
of  which  is  computed  at  aboui/eventy  thoufand pounds  jlev ling.  If 
England  contains  only  an  hundred  fuch  parks  as  that  of  Goodwood, 
an  hundred  fquare  miles  of  land  are  loft  to  the  public.  Like  the 
rocksat  fort  AVilliam,  and  the  wilds  of  Aberdeenihire,  every  fpot 
of  this  land  might  be  converted  into  gardens  and  corn-fields.  If 
we  affign  an  hundred  and  lixty  people  to  every  fquare  mile, 
which  is  lefs  than  the  reputed  population  of  Switzerland,  we 
have  an  extrufion  of  hxteen  thoufand  perfons  from  fubiiftence, 
for  the  fake  of  hares,  foxes  and  partridges.  But  this  is  not  all. 
The  duke  of  Richmond  keeps  twenty  game-keepers,  and  forty 
pair  of  hounds.  His  dog-kennel  is  totally  eclipfed  by  that  of 
Wooburn  ;  and  hence  we  may  reafonabiy  prefume,  that  the 
hounds  and  game-keepers  of  the  duke  of  Bedford,  are  ftill  more 
numerous.  But  let  us  once  more  take  the  duke  of  Richmond 
for  a  ftandard,  and  fay,  that  the  whole  kingdom  of  England 
contains  only  an  hundred  times  more  than  his  private  hunting 
eftabliinment.  We  have  then  two  thoufand  game-keepers,  and 
four  thoufand  pair  of  hounds  to  raife  the  price  of  proviiions. 
This  is  a  great  deal  ;  and  yet,  it  is  more  likely  that  the  country 
maintains  twenty  thoufand  pair  of  hounds  than  four  thou- 
fand. The  lofs  of  one  hundred  fquare  miles  of  land,  aha 
the  burden  of  fueh  a  multitude  of  ufelefs  men  and  dogs,  call 
loudly  for  the  .final  deuruclion  of  every  deer  par!;  in  Britain. 
On  the  4th  of  February,  1791,  a  petition  was  prefented  to  the 
houfe  of  commons  from  Aulcefter,  for  a  tax  upon  doga.  The 
petition  Itates,  that  "  where  many  dogs  are  kept,  and  packs  of 
"  hounds,  by  gentlemen,  the  prices  of  many  articles  of  life  are 
"  fo  much  encreafed,  (particularly  fheep;f  heads,  and  other  in- 
"  ferior  pieces  of  butcher's  meat,  which  formerly  made  an  ef- 
"  fential  part  of  the  maintenance  of  the  poor,)  as  to  be  vaftly 
■*  beyond  their  reach,  and  are  now  fold  only  for  the  kennels  of  tneir 
"  opulent  neighbours."*  The  matter  of  a  dog-kennel,  who  fup- 
ports  it  by  ftarving  the  poor,  as  completely  deferves  the  gallows 
as  a  horfe-ftealer  or  a  highway-man.  In  Scotland  ajfo,  land- 
holders can  be  pointed  out,  who  fquander  conliderabfe  portions 
of  wholefome  food  upon  their  four-footed  vermin.  Thefe  facls 
fliew  the  prodigious  walle  of  land  and  people,  in  confequence 

*  Senator, vol.  i,p.  z64. 


of  the  prefent  tyrannical  fyftem  of  game  laws.  Even  to  the 
cultivated  parts  of  England,  great  damage  is  frequently  done 
in  the  courfe  of  a  fox-chace.  If,  to  thefe  confiderations,  we  add 
the  many  thoufands  of  horfes  that  are  kept  by  the  rich  for  hun- 
ting, racing,  and  other  trifling  amufements,  it  will  turn  out  that 
fome  hundred  thoufands  of  additional  people  could  be  main- 
tained by  the  food  call  away  upon  fuperfluous  quadrupeds. 
Some  writers  have  dreamed  that  Britain  is  overftocked  with 
people.  In  fact,  this  ifland  could,  with  Chinefe  management, 
readily  fupport  quadruple  its  prefent  number  of  inhabitants. 
The  fame  remark  applies  to  almoft  every  other  part  of  Europe, 
Holland  and  Switzerland  excepted.  "While  fo  many  millions  of 
Britifh  acres  lie  uncultivated,  we  pay  fix  or  feven  hundred  thou- 
fand  pounds  a  year  to  the  family  of  a  fmgle  man.  At  a  round 
calculation,  let  us  guefs,  that  fifty  pounds  fterling  are  fumciem 
for  converting  an  acre  of  barren  bogs,  or  moors,  into  meadows 
or  corn-fields.  Thefum  of  fixhundred  and  fixty  thoufand pounds, 
paid  in  1785,  to  the  immediate  ufe  of  the  crown,  might  thus 
have  fertilized  an  hundred  and  twelve  thoufand  a<cres. 

The  moil  miferable  part  of  the  (lory  ftill  remains  to  be  -told  ; 
but  the  particulars  muft  be  deferred  to  fome  future  time'.  The 
civil  lift  is  a  gulf  yawning  to  abforb  the  whole  property  of  the 
Britifh  empire.  We  look  back  without  fatisfaclion,  and  forward 
without  hope. 

Lord  Chefterfield  informs  us,  that  George  the  firfl  was 
exceedingly  hurt,  even  by  the  weajc  oppofition  which  ,  he 
met  with  in  parliament,  on  account  of  fubfidaes.  He  coni- 
plained  to  his  moft  intimate  friends,  that  he  had  come  over  to 
England  to  be  a  begging  king.  His  vexation  was,  that  he  could 
not  command  money  without  the  farce  of  afking  it;  for,  in  his 
reign,  as  at  prefent,  the  debates  of  parliament  were  but  a  farce. 
Such  were  the  liberal  fentiments  of  the  fir  ft  fovereign  of  the 
proteftant  fuccefTion. 

This  king  detefted  his  fon,  George  the  fecond,  as  an 
offspring  of  illicit  love.  His  jealoufy  was  fatal  to  the  life  of 
count  Koningfmarck,a  Swedifh  nobleman.  On  the  fame  account, 
his  wife,  the  heirefs  to  the  duchy  of  Zell,  died  in  prifon,  after 
a  confinement  of  thirty-f  x  years.  George  the  firft  fhould  have 
confidered  this  accident,  if  real,  as  a  refwvation^  rather  than  a 
corruption,  of  the  royal  blood.  For  tradition  reports,  that  his  oivn 
mother,  the  princefs  Sophia,  bore  a  refemblance  to  Elizabeth, 
maiden  queen  of  England.  Like  that  illuftricus  and  admired  fo- 
vereign, Sophia,  by  the  formidable  rurnber  of  her  male /avoir;- 
ites,  attefted  the  ardor  of  her  fenfibiiity,  and  the  robuftnefs  of 
her  conftitution. 

The  quarrel  between  George  the  fecond,  and  his  fon  Frede- 
rick, prince  of  Wales,  father  to  George  the  third,  arofe  from  a 

O 


(     w6     ) 

different  caufe.  It  lafted  for  more  than  twenty  years,  and  will  be 
explained  in  my  fuaceeding  hiftory  of  the  reign  of  George  the 
fe.cond.  It  was  carried  to  a  dreadful  height.  When  old  queen 
Caroline  was  dying,  Frederick  requefled  permifSon  to  fee  her. 
His  mother  refuted  acceis  to  her  ion,  and  expired  without  an 
interview.  Fifteen  vears  after,  Frederick  mmfelf  died,  and  Docl- 
Ington  has  obliged  us  with  fome  anecdotes  of  his  burial.  By  thefe 
we  learn,  that  George  grudged  a  dinner  to  the  courtiers  who 
attended  it.  The  following  is  part  of  the  account  which  Dod- 
ington  gives  of  this  affair. 

"  At  feven  o'clock,  I  went,  according  to  the  order,  to  the 
<(  houfe  of  lords.  The  many  flights  that  the  poor  remains  of  a 
il  much  loved  friend  and  mailer  had  met  with,  and  who  was 
"  now  preparing  the  laft  trouble  he  could  give  his  enemier,funk 
**  me  fo  low,  that  for  the  firfl  hour,  I  was  incapable  of  making 
"  any  obfervation. 

"  The  procefiion  began,  and  (except  the  lords  appointed  to 
u  hold  the  pall,  and  attend  the  chief  mourner,  and  thofe  of  his 
"  own  domeftics)  when  the  attendants  were  called  in  their  ranks, 
**  there  was  not  one  Englifh  lord,  not  one  biihop,  and  only  one 
€t  Irifh  lord,  two  ions  of  dukes;  one  baron's  ion,  and  two  privy 
««  counfellors,"  (of  whom  the  author  was  one)  "  out  of  thek  great 
f<  bodies,  to  make  a  mow  of  duty  to  a  prince  io  great  in  rank  and 
*'  expectation.  While  we  were  in  the  houfe  of  lords,  it  rained 
<c  very  hard,  as  it  has  done  all  the  feafon  j  when  we  came  into 
ci  Palace-Yard,  the  way  to  the  Abbey  was  lined  with  foldiers,  but 
"  the  managers  had  not  afforded  the  fmalleft  covering  over  our 
*'  heads  ;  but  by  good  fortune,  while  we  were  from  under  cover, 
w  it  held  up.  We  went  in  at  the  fouth-eaft  door,  and  turned  fhort 
«<  into  Henry  the  feventh's  chapel.  The  fervice  was  performed 
"  without  either  anthem  or  organ.  Soended  this  fad  day. — There 
(t.  was  not  the  attention  to  order  the  green-cloth  to  provide  them  a 
"  bitof  bread,  and  thefe  gentlemen, "(the  bed-chamber  of  the  late 
prince,)  "of  the  firll rank  and dittinclion,  indifchargingof  their 
'<  laft  fad  duty  to  a  loved  and  loving  matter,  were  forced  to  be- 
*(  fpeak  agreat  cold  dinner  from  a  common  taw>rn  in  the  neighbourhood, 
"  At  three  o'clock,  indeed,  they  vouchfafed  to  think  of  a  dinner, 
(i  and  ordered  one  :  but  the  dijgracc  icas  complect.  The  tavern-din- 
<l  ner  was  paid  for,  and  given  to  the  poor.  N.  B.  The  duke  of 
««  Samerfet  was  chief  mourner,  notwithstanding  the  flourilhing 
«  flate  of  the  royal  family.*" 

Judge  Page,  of  hanging  memory,  when  once  pronouncing 
fentence  of  death  upon  a  prifoner,  added,  by  way  of  confolation, 
«  You  have  a  pitiful  kin:;  firrah  !  a  pitiful  king,  indeed  !" 

In  this  chapter  we  have  feen  a  few  memorable  fpecimens  of 

*  Dodin^ton's  Diary,  Dublin  edition,  p.  72. 


io7     ) 

the  mode  in  which  public  monev  is  expended.  "We  (hall 
conclude  with  fome  remarks  on  the  method  by  which  it  is 
railed. 

"  The  rigour  and  arbitrary  proceedings  of  excife  laws,  feem 
"  hardly  compatible  with  the  temper  of  a  free  nation.  For  the- 
"  frauds  that  might  be  committed  in  this  branch  of  the  revenue,' 
"  unlefs  a  Uriel  watch  is  kept,  make  it  nee  diary,  wherever  it  is 
"  eftablifhed,  to  give  the  officers  a  power  of  entering  and  fear- 
"  ching  the  houfes  of  fuch  as  deal  in  excifeable  commodities,  at 
*'  any  hour  of  the  dav ;  and,  in  many  cafes,  of  the  night  like- 
«  wile.  And  tlie  proceedings,  in  cafe  of  tranfgreiTions,  are  fo 
"  fummary  and  fudden,  that  a  man  may  be  convicted  id  two 
"  days  time,  in  the  penalty  of  many  thoufand  pounds,  by  two 
"  commiilioners  or  juftrces  of  the  peace;  to  the  total  exclusion 
Xi  of  the  trial  by  jury,  and  difregard  of  the  common  faiv.*"  About 
feven  millions  iterling,  or  two-fifths  of  the  whole  annual  revenues 
of  Britain,  are  raifed  by  an  excife.  They  are  railed  in  an  arbitrary 
manner,  and  in  a  difregard  of  the  common  laiv."  After  fuch  an 
acknowledgment,  it  feems  trifling  in  this  author  to  cant  fo  much 
about  Engliih  libertyi  He  fays,  that  "  from  its  firft  original  to 
"  the  preient  time,  its  very  name  (excife J  has  been  odious  to 
"  the  people  of  England."  If  this  be  true,  and  if  the  people  are  as 
free  as  thev  pretend  to  be,  they  might,  furely,  in  the  courfe  of 
an  hundred  and  forty-nine  vears,f  have  caft  it  afide,  and  placed 
a  better  fyftem  in  its  (lead.  The  writer  gives  a  very  long  cata- 
logue of  commodities  that  have  been  excited,  and  adds  thefe 
words  :  "  A  lift,  which  no  friend  to  his  country  would  wiiri  to 
u  fee  farther  encreafed."  Since  his  time,  the  lift  has  been  much 
enlarged.  Excife  has  always  been  paid,  and  always  execrated  ; 
which  ihews  the  folly  of  the  trite  aphorifm,  that  an  Englifhman 
can  only  be  taxed  by  his  czvn  conjehf,  and  tried  by  a  jury  of  his 
peers.  As  two  juftices  of  the  peace  can  ruperfede  the  exiirence 
of  the  common  laic,  and  the  right  of  trial  by  juryy  let  us  enquire 
what  kind  of  perfons  they  are.  In  Scotland,  we  all  know,  that 
they  are  fometimes  the  moft  infolent,  the  mod  brutal,  unintel- 
ligent and  worthlefc  characters  in  the  county  where  they  re- 
fide.  The  chief  qualifications  required  by  the  ftatute  of  the  fifth 
year  of  George  the  fecond  is,  that  they  ihall  have  an  hundred 
pounds  per  annum  clear  of  all  deductions.  Blackitone  fpeaks  of 
this  affair,  in  the  following  terms.  "  Few  care  to  undertake,  and 
"  fewer  underjland  the  office.  The  country  is  greatly  obliged  to 
"  any  worthy  magiftrate,  that,  without  fmifter  views  cf  his  own, 
"  will  engigc  in  this  troubleibme  fervice."  (Thus  we  muft  com- 
mence mendicants  for  people  to  iufpend  thi  cohthou  law.  J  i(  And 

*  Commentaries  by  Sir  William  Blackftone,  book  I.  cbap.  f . 
f  Excife  was  firft  impofed  in  England,  in  i6.?3. 


(     io3     ) 

"  therefore,  if  a  well-meaning  juflice  makes  any  undefgncd flip  in 
"  his  practice,  great  lenity  and  indulgence  are  (hewn  him  in  the 
"  courts  of  law  •,  and  there  are  many  ftatutes  made  to  protect 
"  him  in  the  upright  diicharge  of  his  office  ;  which,  among 
"  other  privileges,  prohibit  fuch  juftices  from  being  fued  for  any 
"  oversight,  without  netice  before  hand  ;  and  flop  all  fuits  be- 
u  gun,  on  tender  made  ot  fujflcient  amends  "\  Who  is  to  decide 
what  compenfation  mould  be  fatisfa£tory  ?  This  quotation, 
when  ftript  of  the  verbage  that  furrounds  it,  tells  us  plainly,  that 
jullices  of  the  peace  are  very  often  incapable  of  executing  their 
duty,  and  that  manyflatutes  have  been  exprefsly  framed,  to  fhield 
them  from  the  punifhment  deferved  by  their  ignorance.  A  ma- 
gistrate who  understands  his  bufinefs,  needs  no  peculiar  protec- 
tion. In  fhort,  we  fee,  that  when  a  juftice  of  the  peace  blun- 
ders, the  door  against  redrefs  is  both  fhut  and  bolted.  The  au- 
thor, indeed,  .fubjoins,  that  a  justice,  when  convicted  of  wilful 
or  malicious  injury,  is  fubje£ted  "  to  double  cofts."  But  hnce  it 
is  next  to  impoihble  to  convict  or  even  toprofecute  him,  the  lat- 
ter flipulation  is  a  mere  (talking  horfe.  Thefe  magistrates  are 
removeable  at  the  pleafure  of  the  crown  •,  a  reafon,  perhaps, 
why  they  have  been  chofen  as  instruments  for  fufpending  the 
ufc  of  the  common  law. 

The  morals  of  the  Britifh  nation  have  been  degraded  by  ex- 
ceffive  taxes.  On  the  16th  of  June,  1789,  the  houfe  of  com- 
mons refolved  itfelf  into  a  committee,  on  the  bill  for  an  excife 
on  tobacco.  A  few  notes  from  Debrett's  parliamentary  debates 
on  that  bill,  will  demonitrate  the  maturity  to  which  fmuggling 
and  its  twin-fifter  perjury,  muft  have  extended.  Mr.  Pitt  faid, 
"  that  at  leaft  one-half  of  the  tobacco,  confumed  in  the  king- 
iC  dom  (Britain)  was  fmuggled."  The  importation  of  tobacco 
"  amounted  to  nearly  fixteen  millions  of  pounds,  but  to  four- 
"  teen  at  leojl.  The  actual  legal  importation,  he  declared,  had 
"  been,  on  the  average,  estimated  at  /even  millions."  The  duty 
on  each  million  of  pounds,  was  fixty  thoufand  pounds  fterling; 
fo  that  if  only  five  millions  of  pounds  were  annually  fmuggled 
into  Britain,  the  revenue  was  defrauded  of  three  hundred  thou- 
fand pounds  fterling,  and  the  fair  trader,  if  fuch  a  character  can 
>ave  exiited,was  robbed  of  his  ctiftomers  and  his  profits.  Mr.  Pitt 
faid,  that  previous  to  the  commutation  act,  which  reduced  the 
duty  on  tea,  about  the  fame  quantity  of  that  article  had  been 
imported,  and  a  very  great  proportion  of  it  had  been  fmuggled. 
lie  had  made  fome  regulations  for  lesTening  the  duty  on  wines 
imported,  and  from  thirteen  thoufand  tons,  the  former  visible 
importation,  it  had  mounted  up  to  twenty-two  thoufand  tons. 
The  additional  nine  thou£md  had  formerly  been  fmuggled.  It 

$  Commentaries,  book  1,  chap.  9. 


(     iop     ) 

is  no  wonder  that  a  citfiom-houfe  oath  has  long  been  fynonimous 
to  perjury.  The  tobacco  bill,  confuting  of  an  hundred  and  thir- 
ty-five folio  pages,  pall,  after  long  and  angry  debates.  Next  year, 
an  attempt  was  made  to  repeal  it,  and  on  the  16th  pf  April, 
i  790,  Mr.  Sheridan,  in  a  fpeech  on  that  queftion,  told  die  fol- 
lowing ftory  to  the  houfe  of  commons.  An  eminent  diftiller, 
of  a  very  fair  character,  had  occafion  to  ditpute  a  judgment  by 
which  a  quantity  of  fpirits  had  been  feized  and  condemned  as 
above  proof.  He  maintained  that  they  were  not  above  proof ; 
that  Clarke's  hydrometer,  by  which  they  had  been  proved,  was 
faulty  ;  and  that  if  the  fpirits  were  tried  by  hydrometers  accu- 
rately made,  they  would  be  found  to  be  fuch  as  the  law  required 
them  to  be,  and  confequently  not  feizable.  The  cafe  went  to 
trial,  and  turned  out  precifely  as  the  difliller  had  Hated  it  to  be  ; 
Mr.  Clarke  admitted  that  his  hydrometer  was  faulty,  and  reques- 
ted that  the  commiilioners  of  excife  would  give  him  leave  to 
amend  and  correct,  it.  But,  inftead  of  liftening  to  a  requeft  fo 
reafonable  and  juit,  they  procured  a  claufe  to  be  inferted  in  a 
hotch-potch  bill,  by  which  it  was  enacted  that  Clarke's  hydro- 
meter fhould,  in  future,  be  the  legal  ftandard  for  trying  the 
ftrength  of  fpirits. 

This  hydrometer  was  acknowleged,  by  its  maker,  to  be  faulty; 
and  yet  the  commiflioners,  fo  far  from  granting  him  leave  to 
amend  it,  applied  to  parliament  for  an  act  which  fanctioned  er- 
ror, and  legalized  faifohood  and  opprefhon.*  Thus  far  Mr.  She- 
ridan. 


CHAPTER     VI. 


Edward  I. — Edward  III. — Henry  V. — Ireland — Conducl  of 
Britain  in  various  quarters  of  the  world — Otaheite — Guin-a — - 
North- America — Tht  Jerfey  p.rifon  JJjip — Bengal — General  efti- 
mate  of  deftruclion  in  the  Eajl-Indies. 

AT  home  Englilhmen  admire  liberty,  but  abroad  they  have 
always  been  harm  mailers.  Edward  the  firft  conquered 
Wales  and  Scotland,  and,  at  the  diftance  of  five  hundred  years, 
his  name  is  yet  remembered  in  both  countries  with  traditionary 
horror.  His  annals  are  blafted  by  an  excefs  of  infamy,  uncommon 
even  in  the  ruffian  catalogue  of  Englifh  kings.  David  Hume, 
Sir  William  Blackftone,  and  Sir  John  Sinclair,  have  celebrated 
the  talents  and  atchievements  of  this  deteitable  barbarian.  "  The 
fi  Englifh  Juflinian  was  one  of  the  wifeft  and  moft  fortunats 

*  Debrert's  Parliamentary  Debate*,  vol.  xxyii.  pa^c  408. 


(    tw    ) 

"  princes,  that  ever  fat  upon  the  thone  of  England.  In  him  were 
"  united,- the  prudence  and  forefightof  the  ftatefman  and  legif- 
"  lator,  with  the  valour  and  magnanimous  fpirit  of  the  hero."* 
Edward  made  war  in  Paleftine  and  in  France?.  He  butchered  fome 
hundred  thoufands  of  the  Welfh  and  the  Scots.  He  was  conftantly 
at  variance  with  his  own  fubje&s,  and  exerted  every  petty  fraud 
to  (trip  them  of  their  property.  The  fpoil  thus  obtained,  was  ex- 
pended with  equal  criminality.  We  Ihudder  to  think  of  a  do- 
meftic  murder;  but  when  a  crowned  robber, whofe  underftanding 
is  perhaps  unequal  to  the  office  of  a  poft-boy,  fends  an  hundred 
thoufand  brave  men  into  the  field,  to  defolate  provinces,  and  hew 
nations  down  like  oxen,  we  call  it  Glory.  Thus  common  fenfe 
and  humanity  are  obliterated  by  a  rhapfody  of  words.  If  Edward 
the  firft,  as  a  private  man,  had  murdered  a  fingle  Sect  or  Welfh- 
man,  the  world  would  have  agreed  in  thinking  that  he  deferved 
the  gallows.  But  when  he  only,  upon  the  moll  hateful  pretences, 
butchered  three  or  four  hundred  thoufand  people,  we  are  fum- 
moned,  at  the  end  of  five  centuries,  to  admire  (l  his  wifdom,  his 
"  good  forture,  his  valour  and  magnanimity."  As  to  his  tvifdsm, 
it  is  hard  to  fay  what  England  gained  by  his  victories.  The  Welfh 
were  independent  or  thereabouts,  in  the  reign  u£  Henry  the 
fourth,  an  hundred  years  after  the  death  of  Edward,  fo  that  the 
merit  of  finally  fubduing  them  is  to  be  placed  fomewhere  elfe.  The 
Scots  revolted  in  the  life-time  of  this  Edward.  He  died  on  a  jour- 
ney to  Scotland,  for  the  facred  purpofe  of  extirpating  the  .Scots 
mation.  He  would  have  been  much  wifer  if  he  had  ftaid  at  home 
at  firft,  and  faved  himfelf  the  trouble  of  an  impracticable  con- 
«queft.  As  to  the  domeflic  legiflation  of  this  Jujlinian,  he  hanged 
two  hundred  and  eighty  Jews  in  one  day.  "  Above  fifteen  thou- 
"  land  were  plundered  of  all  their  wealth,  and  banifhed  the  king- 
"  dom."f  The  fame  writer  fays,  that  thefe  enormities  were  com- 
mitted under  various  pretences.  "The  year  thirteen  hundred  forms 
il  the  difgraceful  epoch  of  the  original  debafement  of  our  flan-. 
*"  dard  coin,  when  our  Englijh  Jujlinian,  Edward  firft,  defrau- 
"  ded  every  creditor  of  eight-pence  half-penny  in  every  twenty- 
u  fhillings.'^  An  excellent  legiflator  he  was,  to  be  fure,  when 
he  cheated  the  public  creditors,  and  forged  bad  money.  Edward 
firft  introduced  tonnage  and  poundage,  duties  on  imports  and 
exports.  He  was,  in  every  refpecT:,  a  fcourge  to  the  human  race. 
Edward  the  fecond  wanted  to  live  at  peace.  Sir  John  Sinclair 
tells  us,  that  his  reign  is  remarkable  for  "  the  inconsiderable  taxes 
"  levied."  He  was  fond  of  the  fociety  of  fome  companions,  and 
all  the  hiftorians  mention  this  mark  of  good  nature,  as  a  very 
grofs  weaknefs,  if  not  a  pojitive  crime.  The  heart  of  a  wolf  was, 

*  Hiftory  of  the  Public  Revenue,  part  \.  chap.  6. 

f  Ibid. 

\  Eftimate,  &c.  by  Mr.  Chalmers,  p.  80. 


.(  «"  ) 

at  that,  time,  an  efTential  qualification,  for  a  king  of  England. 
After  various  rebellions  againft  him,  Edward  was  taken  prifoner 
by  his  wife.  He  expired  in  Berkley  cattle,  by  a  fpecies  of  death, 
too  horrible  to  be  defcribed.  His  real  guilt  was  a  focial  and  peace- 
able difpofition. 

"  The  reign  of  Edward  the  third  is,  without  doubt,  the  moft 
<l  ^/c-z/^V/inthe'Engliflihiftory. — His  queen  pawned  her  jewels. "* 
The  king  pawned  lis  crown  ;  and  this  pledge  lay  unredeemed  for 
eight  years.  He  conquered  a  great  part  of  France,  without  any 
fort  of  juftice  on  his  fide.  The  rapacity  of  his  fon,  the  black 
prince,  as  he  has  been  emphatically  termed,  drove  the  French 
into  rebellion,  and  the  Englifh  out  of  the  country.  This  conqueft, 
and  fubfequent  expulfion,  firft  planted  the  feeds  of  that  brutal 
.antipathy  to  the  French  people,  by  which  England  has  been  too 
much  diftinguifhed. 

Ferox  Eriteirmus  viribus  sntchae, 
Gallii'vjue  fern  per  cladibus  iinmiiitns. 

BrCKAXAN. 

"  The  Briton,  formerly  ferocious  in  his  ftrength,  and  always 
u  menacing  calamities  to  France."  Englishmen  pretend  to  be 
proud  of  the  horrid  ravages  committed  in  that  country,  by  Ed- 
ward the  third,  by  his  fon,  and  by  Henry  the  fifth.  The  juftice 
of  their  claims  has  long  been  given  up  ;  and  yet  we  are  deafened 
about  their  virtues.  Englishmen  prattle  on  French  perfidy,  and 
of  fucking  in,  with  their  mother's  milk,  an  honeit  hatred  for 
that  greateft  of  nations.  In  the  French  wars  of  Edward  the  third,, 
and  Henry  the  fifth,  England  was  plainly  the  aggreilbr  ;  and  the 
country,  fo  far  from  feeling  pride  in  their  vr&ories,  ought,  if 
pofiible,  to  fupprefs  that  part  of  its  ancient  hiftory.  Philip  de 
Comines  places  the  a  ffair  in  a  proper  light.  He  afcribes  the  civil 
wars  of  York  and  Lancafter,  that  fucceeded  the  death  of  Henry 
the  fifth,  to  the  indignation  of  divine  juftice.  The  murder,  by 
Richard  the  third,  of  his  two  nephews,  was  a  diminutive  crime, 
contrafted  with  the  atrocity  of  Crecy,  of  Azincourt,  and  Poic- 
tiers.  Henry  the  fifth  was  a  two-fold  ufurper.  (l  When  he 
"  thought,"  fays  Horace  Walpole,  that  he  had  any  title  to  the 
"  crown  ofEngiarid^  the  other  followed  of  courfe."  Since  his  time, 
the  kings  of  England  have  called  themfelves  kings  of  France,  juft 
like  a  perfon  advertifing  that  his  grand-father  had  ftolen  a  horfe. 

Henry  butchered  numbers  of  the  Lollards,  a  premature  tribe 
of  proteftants.  The  Scots,  in  great  bodies,  joined  the  French, 
and  gave  him  fome  checks.  On  this  he  pretended,  that  they 
were  his  lawful  fubjeCts,  and  hanged  thofe  whom  he  took  pri- 
soners, for  having  rebelled.  Mr.  Hume  has  employed  a  long  pa- 
ragraph upon  the  character  of  Henry.  He  begins,  by  faying,  that 

*  Hiftory  of  the  Public  Revenue,  part  i.  chap.  6. 


(       U2      ) 

i 
kt  tins  prince  pofreiTed  many  eminent  virtues."  Henry  committed 
more  mifehief  than  all  the  felons  ever  executed  at  Tyburn.  Yet, 
Mr.  Hume  draws  a  plaufible  picture  of  him,  and  fixes  a  ftrong 
impreihon  of  refpecf.  and  kindnefs.  Hiftorians  abound  with  thefe 
fophifticai  portraits.  The  reader  is  taught  to  admire,  when 
{there  is  room  for  nothing  but  execration.  Thus  arc  his  morals 
corrupted,  and  his  underitanding  turned  topfy-turvv.  This  is 
the  moll  ufual  effect  of  peruling  hiflory.  If  Henry  had  Only  put 
to  death  a  fingle  Lollard,  he  certainly  could  not  poffefs  many 
eminent  virtues.  A  mite,  m  a  cruil  of  checfe,  projecting  an  or- 
rerv,  woilld  be  a  Ids  extravagant  idea  than  that  of  a  human  be- 
ing defining  the  nature,  efience,  and  intentions  of  the  Deitv. 
But,  when  this  phrenzy  breaks  out  into  perfonal  violence,  as  in 
the  cafe  of  the  Lollards,  and  the  quakers  at  Coventry,  the  mad- 
nefs  of  the  fcheme  is  forgot  in  its  extreme  wicked  nefs.* 

Ireland  has  long  prefented  a  linking  monumentof  the  wifdom, 
juftice,  and  humanity  of  the  Englijh  nation.  That  devoted  ill  and 
w;<,  in  the  end  of  the  twelfth  century,  over-run  by  a  fet  of  bandit- 
ti, under  Henry  tire  fecond.  This  eitablifhed  a  divine  right.  Sir 
John  Davis  informs  us,  that  even  in  times  of  peace,  it  was  ad- 
judged no  felony  to  kill  a  were  Irijbman.  This  acquifition  proved 
vcrv  troublefome  to  the  conquerors.  "  The  ufual  revenue  of  Ire- 
«  land,"  fays  Mr.  Hume,  M  amounted  only  to  fix  thou  fan  d  pounds 
"  a  year.  The  queen,  (Elizabeth,)  though  with  much  repining, 
"  commonly  added  twenty  thouland  pounds  more,  which  ihe  re- 
<;  mitred  from  England."  Thefuprempcy  was,  at  bell,  a  lofmg 
bargain.  In  war,  affairs  were,  or  courfe,  an  hundred  times  worfe. 
Sir  John  Sinclair  fays,  that  tire  rebellion  of  Tyrone,  which  lalied 
for  eight  years,  coil  four  hundred  thoufand  pounds  per  annum. 
In  1599,  fix  hundred  thoufand  pounds  were  ipent  in  fix  months  ; . 
and  Sir  Robert  Cecil  afhrrned,  that  in  ten  years,  Ireland  cod  Ens- 
land  three  millions,  and  four  hundred  thoufand  pounds  fteriing. 
This  profulion  of  treafure  was  expended  in  fupporting  the  pi- 
ratical conqueft  of  a  country,  which  did  not  yield  a  milling  of 
profit  to  England,  nor  pay,  even  in  time  of  peace,  a  fourth-part 
of  the  expence  of  its  govennent.  The  confolation  of  inflicting 
the  deepeit  and  molt  univerfal  wretched nefs,  was  the  total  recom- 
penfe  afforded  to  the  good  people  of  England.  Sir  William  Petty, 
in  his  Political  Anatomy,  fays,  that  in  the  year  1641,  Ireland  con- 
ned 1,466,000  inhabitants. 
He  adds,  that  in  1652.  they  had  funk  to      85o,oocf 


Decreafe     616,000 

*  Tl  nation  might,  at  tin's  day,   have  been  four  times  more  nume- 

rous, a  thoufand  times  more  happy,  and  by  millions  0/ degrees  lefs  criminal,  if 
two-thirds  of  them  had  belonged  to  the  fociety  of  friends. 

T  Thefe  particulars  are  borrowed  from  a  cpiarto  edition  of  Guthrie's  Gramr 
mar/printed  at  Dubliu.  1  have  not  yet  leer,  a  copy  of  the  Political  Anatomy. 


(     "3     ) 

Thus,  in  eleven  years,  the  Irifh  nation  iolt  fix  hundred  and  u\- 
,houfand  people.   In  164,1  they  had*  been  driven  into  rebel- 
lion, by  the  tyranny  of  that  Eiiglifli  parliament  which  conducted 
Charles  Stuart  to  the  fcaifbld.   On  the  ineorrupihnu  virtues  of 
that  upright  band,  much  no*. ■..  id  fang.  By  a 

rted  two  millions  and  h\e  hundred  thou- 
acjrcs  of  ground  in  Ireland.    rhe\vin;ie  iiland  was  transfor- 
med into  an  imiiicDi''  fiaughter-l]LO.ufe>  Ji\-Ian  .  tied  by  an 
ifh  republic,  m\                                                       eco,  as  a 
tal  paradife.  (Jcjinpared  with)              oendous  mafsof  miicry 
|         .Led  by  Stra.rbrd,  Cromwell,  ireton,  and  ti.e  duke.. 
of  Ormond,  t..               jus  of  the  Baiale.  or  the  profcriptions  ct* 
a  Roman              rati©,  jC^in^  intoiprge^uhieivf 
-    Neither  the  reiteration  of  Charles  the  fecond,  nor  the  glorious 
revolution,  afforded  much  reliei  to  Ireland.  The  people  continu- 
ed to  groan  ur.d.r  the  molt  oppreflwe  andabfurd  deipotifm,  till, 
in  defiance  of  a!)  confequences,  die  immortal  Swift,  like  another 
Ajax, 

Briike  the  dark  phalanx,  and  let  in  the  light. 

He  taught  his  country  to  underitand  her  importance.   At  laft 
(he  rcfoiv  rt  it,  and.  as  a  uecerlury  arrangement,  (he  arofe 

in  arms.  England  fa<w  the  hazard  o^  contending  with  a  brave,  an 
injured,  and  an  indignant  nation,  'i  nny  trem- 

to  its  bale  j  and  it  is  to  be  hop.  fhort  time  will  ex- 

tmguiih  every  veitige  of  afupremacy,  diihonoural  I?  and  pernici- 
ous to  both  nations.  As  matters  now  ftand,-  an  Eriihma-fi,  who 
loves  his  country,  mini  jrnpred  :--  rt  England 

were  id  f.-ihoms  below  t]  ocean.    If 

the  reft  of  Europe  has  net  been  reduced  to  the  fame  di  lire  is 
with  it  is  owing  to  want  of  power,  and  not  of  ineHria- 

ee  of  England.  The  greater  com- 

■ 

cd'rn- 
tire.  Mr,  Hume  affigns 
the  i  )r  it.    '<  i   the  members  thought 

«  that  a    .  dd  ferve  as  a  imting 

*c  tbi  sit,  and  a  repre- 

«  :"    itattoe,  vmh   •■."•  ?h  :  :red. 

"  To  divert  the  at  i  quarrels, 

"  towards  foreign  tran fact  ions.,  feeraed,  in  ti  nt  difpofi- 

■•'  tions  c;  minds,  to  be  hrmentary 

"  leaders  hoped  to  gain  many  rich  pr'  id  to 

«  diflrefs  and/ink  their flour -jhing  coJhfn&re"  The  Romans  began 
the  third  Punic  war  for  tii^  very  fame  kind  of  reailms.     Blake 

P 

•f  Cunfult  a  Review  of  the  Civil  Wars  in  Ireland,  by  Br.  Curry.  An  epitome 
of  his  valuable  book.  v.  ill  farm  xiuture  pa. ...  _ .  eft. 


(     "4    ) 

was  the  hero  of  this  conteft ;  and  it  has  been  cuftomary  to  cele- 
brate his  virtues.  He  had  exactly  the  fame  proportion  of  honefty 
with  any  other  admiral  of  Corfairs.  Plunder  and  bioodfhed  were 
the  object  of  his  mailers  •,  and  if  it  be  true,  that  he  defpifed 
money,  this  only  mews  that  he  was  willing  to  rob  and  murther 
without  any  farther  gratification  than  that  which  he  felt  from 
the  pkaiure  of  the  performance.  The  Dutch  did  all  that  was 
poihble  to  prevent  the  war,  both  before  and  after  a  fir  ft  battle 
had  been  fought.  The  Engliih  behaved  with  the  moft  intolerable 
arrogance.  This  alfo  is  an  admitted  faff ;  fo  that  the  whole  guilr 
of  the  quarrel  refted  on  the  fide  of  England,  even  by  the  ftate- 
ment  of  LSritith  hiftorians.  Eight  bloody  and  defperate  conflicts 
were  fought.  One  of  them  tailed  for  two  days,  and  a  fecond  for 
three.  Many  thousands  of  liveswere  loft.  Sixteen  hundred  mer- 
chant veffels  were  taken  from  the  Dutch,  and  their  fimeries  were 
totally  fufnended.  The  war  lafted  for  about  two  years. 

Viil.t  the  royal  infirmary  of  Edinburgh,  and,  along  with  a 
dozen  (Indents,  who  are  half  fmothering  a  laugh  at  the  agonies 
of  the  patient,  contemplate  the  amputation  or  the  fracture  of  a 
limb.  You  may  then  atcempt  to  form  a  conception  of  three  hun- 
dred thcufand  fuch  operations,  and  reflect  that  this  is  war,. 

In  1 6s 5,  Cromwell  attacked  the  dominions  of  Spain,  without 
pretending  to  have  received  any  offence.  The  two  nations  had 
lived  in  profound  peace  for  about  thirty  years.  "  Several  iV?i  of- 
ficers,'' fays  Mr.  Hume,  "  having  entertained  fcruples  of  con- 
"  fcience,  with  regard  to  the  jufice  of  the  Spani/h  war,  threw  up 
"  their  commiflions,  and  retired.  No  commands,  they  thought, 
"  of  their  fuperiors,  could  juftify  a  war,  which  was  contrary  to 
"  the  principles  of  ?iatural  equity ,  and  which  the  civil  magiftrate 
4<  had  no  right  to  order."  The  names- of  thefe  officers  ought  to  be 
transmitted  to  pofterity  on  brafs  and  marble.  "Individuals,  they 
"  maintained,  in  refigning  to  the  public  their  natural  liberty, 
"  could  beftow  on  it  only  what  they  themfelves  were  poflefied  of, 
"  a  right  of performing  lawful actions,  and  could  inveft  it  with  no 
"  authority  of  commanding  what  is  contrary  to  the  decrees  of  heaven." 
All  this  is  moil  unquestionably  true,  but  obferve  how  Mr.  Hume 
gets  over  this  diificuity.  "  Such  maxims,  though  they  seem 
"  reasonabLi  ,  are  perhaps  too  perfect  for  human  nature  ;  and 
"  muft  be  regarded  as  one  erTe£t,  though  of  the  moft  innocent  and 
i(  even  honourable  kind,  of  that  fpirit,  partly  fanatical,  partly  re- 
u  publican, which  predominated  in  England."  Thus,  when  a  man 
refutes,  at  command  of  government,  to  commit  what  he  thinks 
murder  and  piracy,  he  is  partly  fanatical,  and  his  fcruples,  though 
they  fecni-  redfonable,  are  perhaps  too  p  erf  eel  for  human  nature.  A 
book  that  dictates  fuch  maxims  of  depravity  is  more  peftiferous 
to  the  human  heart  than  the  lbphiims  of  Hobbes  and  Machiavel, 
or  the  impurities  of  Rochefter  and  of  Ckland.    Let  us  proceed 


(     MS     ) 

ivith   cur  narrative.    In  the  Weft-Iudics,   PennA    father  to  tfie 
founder  of  Philadelphia,  and  Venables   conquered  Jamaica  ;  and 
the  crown  of  Britain   continues  to  hold   that  ifland  by  the  fame 
right  which  a  highwayman  has  to  the  watch  in  your  pocket.    A 
fleet  of  Spanifh   galleons   were  attacked.    Two   of  them   were 
taken,  and  the  plunder  was  valued  at  two  millions  of  ; pieces  of 
eight.  Two  other  galleons  were  let  on  fire,  The  wife  and  daugh- 
ter of  the  viceroy  of  Peru  were  deftrcved  in  the  flames,  while 
the  diffracted  hufband    and   father,   who    might  have    efesped 
death,  chofe  to  perifh  with  his  family.*  "The  next  action  againit 
c;  the  Spaniards  was  more  honourable,  though  lefs  profitable,  to  the 
(i  nation.  Thus  we  learn  from  Mr.  Hume,   that  there  is  a  degree 
of  honour  in  burning  mips,  when  you  cannot  get  them  plundered, 
and  in  deftroying  innocent  pafTengers,  with  their  wives  and  chil- 
dren.    This  next  action,  which  was  fo  extremely  honourable,  con- 
firmed in  the  conflagration  of  fix.teen  Spanifli  (hips,  with  all  their 
treafures.    '«  This  was  the  Lift  and  greateft  action  of  the  gallant 
"  Blake.  Difmterefted,  generous,   liberal;  ambitious  only  of  true 
"  glory   dreadful  only  to  his  avowed  enemies,  lie  forms  one  of  the 
'■  mott  per fee?  characters  of  the  a^ge,   and  the   lead  flamed  with 
(i  thole  errors  and  violences,  which  were  then  fo  predominant. 
*(  The   protector    ordered  him  a  pompous  funeral   at  the  public 
«   charge  ;  but  the  te.  n  „f  his  countrymen  were  the  mod  honour- 
«-  able  panegyric  on  hismemory."  Mr. Hume  mould  likewile  have 
told  us,  that  Charles  tlie  fecond,  caufed  Blake  to  be  dug  up  c^ain. 
He    himfelf  admits,   that  the   invafion   of   the  Spanilh    Weft- 
Indies  "  was   an  unwarrantable  violation  of   treaty."    Whera, 
then,  is  the  diitinction  between  Cromwell  and  Barbarofla?  There 
U,   furely,  none  at  all.  England  paid  dearly  for  this  war.    The 
property  of  her  merchants  in  Spain  was  cor.nfcated   to  an  ini- 
menfe  amount ;  and  it  was  computed  that  fifteen  hundred  Eng- 
lish veiTcls  were,  in  a  few  years,  captured  by  the  enemy.  Thefe 
loffes  counterbalanced  the  millions  of  pieces  of  eight,  acquired  by 
the  perpetration  of  fuch  horrid  crimes. 

On  the  2 2d  of  February,  1665,  Charles  the  fecond  declared 
war  againit.  Holland.  "When  an  exile  and  a  beggar,  he  had  been 
received  with  kindnefs  in  that  country  ,  and  the  general  partia- 
lity of  the  people  in  his  favour,  had  afforded  fome  offence  to  the 
late  republic  oi  England.  His  majelly  now  hailed  to  discharge 
his  obligations.  The  motives  to  this  rupture,  correfponded  with 
chofe  which  led  to  the  former  war  with  Holland,  viz.  the  love  nf 
pillage  and  of  Daughter.  "  The  Dutch,  who,  by  indudlry  and  * 
"  frugality,  were  enabled  to  underfell  them  (the  Engliih)  in  every 
"  market,  retained  pofTefhon  of  the  molt  lucrative  branches  of 
"  commerce  \  and  die  Engliih  merchants  had  the  mortification 

•    *   IIj p.-ffu ad  J.-d:L  to  c  uiJ-iftJj;':o.:  1, ''' 


(     "6     ) 

u  to  fir/d,  that  all  attempts  to  extend  their  trady,  were  Ptill  turner?, 
"  by  the  vigifanee  of  their  rivals,   to  their  ]•■■■■ 
"  In.  iv  i  •   fettj  when  thev  ;■ 

bra\*ery~of  her  :officcrs  andfea^ 
::ion  which  enabled  her  to  intercept 
5 •  commerce-   Bv"tl  :&  of  thefe  a<H 

Drives  hfs'juft  ilivy 
"political,  to  make  war  upon  the  ftafc  i , .-">/£ 

(  -?  them,  I-  firrfoy  v  could  not  obtain,  or  could  bb- 

r<  tain  bis  ficill  and  induftry:''    In  thispaf- 

Mr.  I  lame  i  England  acred  with  font e  o 

both  o^policy  arid  ol         c  .  As  to  the  1  -titer,  it  is  evident,  from  his 
own  ;  •  ,:  fbatk  of  it,  and  as  to 

the/;-  i.  The 

Englifh  j  ifes  "  a  lift  of 

"  tht  i  complained,   ft  h 

<<  markable,   that  idea  d&^redafj  ■■!-d  thv 

"  ■    ?r  1662,  ' ■  '   He  and  aflta  I  beenW^ 

"  riewed  11  thought 

«  either  fo  ift*grm  its,  that  f]  riot:  been 

<c  fnfentie  '  fliipfe  had  been  claimed  by 

the  Engli  d  to  a.  court  of  law  ; 

■-mey,  in   cafe  the  que  ft  inn 
fhould  ..  n  tlept  n- 

.  I  thirty   rttotil  1 
rj  Pmps,  in  fill]  of  their  d£m 
tent  of  it.  They  were  prevented  by 
the  Englifh  ai  r,  who  told  them,  tHat  th<   claim  m 

Matter  of Jf  cite.  '         fli  nation  were  violin  tlybeni  on 

a  war.  u  ply,  rh'e  larger!,  by  fdf, 

"  that  had  ev  ;en  to   a  kin y   <  !  :    v^/  fur-rely 

«  fitjjicietitfbr  ''TheDtftch  "  tried  every  art 

(i  Of  negotiation-,  before  Wey  •kfot/td  rbttie  fi  extremrthsr  The  war 
began.  Tl  Irne,  at!  c&en- 

five  alliance   \  iand  ayainfl.  Holland,  and  another  with 

Holland  againft  England.  He  adhered  to  the  treaty  ^vith  Hol- 
land, and  ii.-i/ '.■  a  and  co  I  all  the  En^Mi  fnips  in  bis  har- 
bour .  in  a  fingle  £pt  the  infig- 
niheant  billion  of  Mimfter.  Ore  of  the  r.aval  battl  ar  in  this  war 
Lifted  for  four  d^ys,  and  the  fleets  were  finally  parted  by  a  mift. 
In  a  fulfjqu.  anus,  ami 
burnt  in  the  road  of  \7\ic}  an  hundred  raid  forty  merchantmen, 
•with  a  Jar  ;hbonrrng  ebaft.  The  Dutch,  in 
return,  failed  Up  . '  .".  led  way,  took  Sheerncfs,  deftroyed  a 
number  of  men  of  war,  infulted  Plymouth,  Tortlmouth,  and 
Harwich,  and  failed  up  the  Thame?  as  far  as  Tilbury.  On  the 
10th  of  July,  1667^  a  peace  was  concluded  upon  equal  tenvfs. 


{     JI7     ) 

The  war  coil  t8e  Dutch  sbout  three  millions  fterfirfg*  but  they 
were  not  vanquished.  On  the  1 3tl\  of  January,  1668,  Charles 
entered  in  ft)  a  itrict  alliance  with  them.  Not  long  after  it  was 
fsgned,  CiifFord,  a  confidential  minifter  of  Onirics,  faid  nuc  muj} 
have  a  fjcond  kiidr  kuith  Holland.  On  the  17th  of  March,  1672, 
war  was  actually  declared  by  Charles  againlt  that  republic.  «  A 
u  ground  of  quarrel,"  fays  Mr.  Hume,  (f  was  fought  by  nv'ar.s 
*  of  a  yacht,  difpatched  for  lady  Tcir-V.  The  captain  failed 
t(  through  the  Dutch  fleet,  which  lay  on  their  own  coafts  ;  and 
'<  he  had  orders  to  make  them  ftrike,  to  iire  on  them,  and  to  per- 
"  fevere  till  theyjhoutd  return  his  fire."  The  Dutch  admiral  came 
on  board  of  the  yacht,  and  in  friendly  and  fenfible  terms,  repre- 
sented the  abfurdityof  fuch  conducl.  The  captain  of  the  yacjit 
did  not  chttie  to  continue  Ins  iire ;  and,  for  this  breach  of  or- 
ders, he  was,  on  his  return  home,  committed  to  the  tower.  Some 
other  pretences  are  ^numerated  by  Mr.  Hume,  and  they  were 
all  equally  ridiculous.  A  feries  of  dreadful  engagements  were 
again  fought  at  fea ;  and  it  does  not  appear  that  England 
gained  a  fmgle  victory.  But  as  France  now  abided  Charles,  the 
.Dutch  were  overwhelmed  rather  than  vanquifned.  A  pence 
w  !••  figtied  in  February  1674,  and  the  advantagesgainedby  Erfg- 
ere  feftremely 

The fe  three  wars' with  Holland,  and  the  fourth  with  Spam, 
were  begun  and  ended  in  the  fhort  period  cf  twentv-two  years. 
No  fober  man  will  attempt  to  deny  that,  in  everv  one  of  them, 
England  was  an  unprovoked,  a  perfidious,  and  a  barharcus  ag~ 
greifcr ;  and  that  f lie  difcovered  in  ee.ch  of  them,  an  infatiable 
thirii  of  piracy  and  murther.  Her  conducl  both  before  and  linCe 
that  period  hath  been  exactly  of  the  fame  complexion  ;  nor  is  U 
likely  that  flic  will  forbear  to  m(\i\t  and  rob  other  nations,  till, 
in  the  maturity  of-  divine  juftice,  a  fecond  Duke  of  Normandy, 
ihall  extinguish  her  political  exiftence. 

In  the  Eaft  and  Weft-Indies,  the  conducl:  of  the  "  united 
i(  kingdom^"  may  be  candidly  compared  with  the  trial 'of  Atahu- 
alpa. 

Our  fubiime  politicians  exult  in  the  viclory  of  Seringapatam.* 
and  the  butchery  of  the  fubjecls  of  a  prince,  at  the  diftance  oi 
fix  thoufand  leagues  from  Britain.  Yet  it  would  be  an  event  the 
moif,  aufpicious  both  for  Bengal  and  for  ourfelves,  if  Cornwallis, 
with  all  his  myrmidons,  could  be  at  once  driven  out  of  Ind-ia. 

But  what  quarter  of  the  globe  has  not  been  convuifed  by  our 
ambition,  our  avarice,  and  our  bafenefs  ?  The  tribes  of  the  Pa- 
cific Ocean  are  pointed  by  the  moft  loathfome  of  difeafes.  On 
the  fhores  of  Africa,  we  bribe  whole  nations  bv  drunkennefs, 
to  robbery  and  murder  \  while,  in  the  face  of  earth  and  heaven, 


^G:i  the  6th  of  februal 


1790. 


(     »8     ) 

eur  fenators  afiembled  to  fanclify  the  practice.  Our  brandy  has 
brutalized  or  extirpated  the  aborigines  of  the  weftern  continent  -, 
2nd  we  have  hired  by  thoufand  s,  the  furvivors,  to  the  talk  of 
bloodihed.  On  an  impartial  examination,  it  will  be  found,  that 
the  guilt  and  infamy  of  thif  practice,  exceed,  by  a  confiderable 
degree,  that  of  any  other  fpecies  of  crimes  recorded  in  hiftory. 
It  is  far  worfs  than  even  the  piracies  of  the  Algerinea,  or  the  Afri- 
can flave  trade;  becaufe,  though  the  two  latter  have  coil  millions 
of  lives,  yet  plunder,  not  affaffmation,  is  the  ultimate  objedl  of 
purfuit  ;  whereas,  a  plan,  for  exciting  the  Indians  to  extirpate 
the  people  of  the  United  States,  holds  out  no  temptation,  either 
of  conqueil  or  of  fpoil ;  and  can  arife  only  from  a  genuine  mo- 
narchical and  parliamentary  thirft  for  the  blood  of  republicans.- 

Our  North- American  colonies, including  the  Thirteen  United 
States,  formed  a  pretence  for  long  and  bloody  wars  and  for  an 
expenditure  of  two  hundred  and  eighty  millions  iter'ing.*  We 
itill  retain  Canada,  at  an  immenfe  annual  charge,  that  fhall  be 
hereafter  fpecified.  The  money  is  wrefted  from  us  by  an  excife, 
which  revels  in  the  deftruclion  of  manufactures, and  the  beggary 
of  ten  thoufand  honed  families.  From  the  province  itfelf,  we 
never  railed,  nor  hope  to  raife,  a  {hilling  of  effective  revenue  ; 
and  the  chief  reafon  why  its  inhabitants  endure  our  dominion 
ior  a  month  longer,  is  to  feeure  the  money  that  we  fpend  among 
them.  The  Britifh  commillioners  of  public  accounts,  in  their 
fifteenth  report,  ftate  the  following  particulars.  The  amount  of 
cuftoms  for  1784,  in  the  ports  of  Quebec,  of  Halifax,  of  New- 
foundland, and  St.  John's,  was  five  hundred  and  fixty-thrce 
pounds  fterling  ;  the  expences  of  collection  and  incidents,  one 
thoufand,  two  hundred  and  eighty-eight  pounds.  The  charges 
thus  exceeded  the  income  by  ftven  hundred  and '  ttventy-five pounds. 
This  is  a  fummary  of  their  detail.  There  feems  to  have  been  a 
miftake,  perhaps  by  the  printer,  in  calling  up  the  figures,  to  the 
extent  of  fifty-feven  pounds.  This  trifling  circumitance  is  only 
mentioned  to  ward  pff  a  charge  of  mif-qnotation. 

The  mode  of  conducting  our  war  again*!!  America,  correfpon- 
ded  with  the  juiticc  of  our  caufe.  At  the  burning  of  Fairfield,  in 
Connecticut,  "  a  fucking -infant  was  plundered  ol  part  of  its 
"  cloathing,  while  the  bayonet  was  prefented  to  the  breaft  of  its 
"  mother.f  At  Connecticut  Farms,  in  the  (tate  of  New-York, 
Mrs.  Caldwell,  the  wife  of  a  prcibyterian  clergyman,  was  fhot 
dead,  by  a  mufket,  levelled  at  Zxr,  through  the  window  of  a 
room,  in  which  (he  was  fitting  with  her  children.  Pcrmiinon 
Wets  granted  to  remove  her  body,  and  then  the  houfe  itfelf  was 
reduced  to  allies. t  We  have  at  leaf!  five  or  ten  thoufand  authen- 

• 

•   Hiftory  of  the  Public  Fevenue,  part  id.  chap.  r. 

•J-  Rainiav's  Hiftorv  01  the  A^crieaiiRwolatLn   vol.  II.  chap.  17. 

i  Ibid,  cfcap.  20. 


(     »9     ) 

tic  anecdotes  of  the  fame  kind.  The  Jerfey,  a  Britifh  pri  *  r£ 
{hip,   at  New- York,  will  be  long  remembered   in  the  . 

States.  It  is  affirmed,  on  as  good  evidence  as  the  nature  of  the 
fubject  will  admit,  that,  during  the  lait  fix  years  of  the  war, 
eleven  thoufarid  American  prifoners  died  of  hunger,  and  every 
fort  o^  bad  treatment,  aboard  of  that  fmgie  veflel.  For  fome  time 
after  the  war  ended,  heaps  of  their  bones  lay  whitening  in  the 
fun,  on  the  mores  of  Long- [Hand.  When  the  illuftrious  com- 
mander at  Weil-Point  deferte.d  to  Clinton,  nothing  could  be 
more  becoming  the  ftrvice^  than  his  inftant  promotion  to  the  rank 
of  a  Britiih  brigadier-generaL  Philips,  and  other  Britilh  officers, 
at  once  adopted,  as  their  alTociate  and  their  confidant,  this  pro- 
digy of  Connecticut.  England  is  fond  of  comparing  herfelf  to 
antient  Rome  •,  and,  in  perfidy  and  barbarity,  fhe  has  been  a 
moll  fuccefsful  imitator.  But  ihe  has  neither  exerted  the  inflexi- 
ble intrepidity,  the  profound  wifdom,  nor  the  dignified  pride  of 
a  primitive  Roman.  Fabius  or  Marcellus  durlt  not  have  promo- 
ted a  Numidian  defertei  to  the  command  of  a  legion  ;  nor  would 
fuch  a  perfon  have  been  fuffered,  like  Arnold,  to  challenge  and 
fight  a  fenator  for  the  exercife  of  his  duty. 

The  peninfula  within  the  Ganges,  is  the  grand  fcene,  where 
the  genius  of  Britiih  fupremacy  difplays  its  meridian  fplendour. 
Culloden,  Glencoe,  and  Darien,  the  Britiih  famine  of  four  years, 
Burgoyne's  tomahawks,  Tarleton's  quarters,  the  Jerfey  prifon- 
fliip,  and  the  extirpation  of  fix  hundred  and  fixteen  thoufand 
Iriih  men,  women  and  children,  dwindle  from  a  companion. 

"  The  civil  wars,  to  which  our  violent  dciire  of  creating  na- 
■"  bobs  gave  rife,  were  attended  with  tragical  events.  Bengal 
"  was  depopulated  by  every  fpecies  of  public  diitrefs.  In  the 
"  fpace  of  fix  years,  half  the  great  cities  of  this  opulent  king- 
"  dom  were  rendered  defolate  ;  the  mofh  fertile  fields  in  the 
"  world  lay  walle  ;  and  five  millions  of  harmlefs  and  indui- 
*'  trious  people  were  either  expelled  or  deitroyed.  Want  of 
"  forefight  became  more  fatal  than  innate  barbarifm  ;  and  men 
"  found  themfelves  wading  through  blood  and  ruint  when  their 
«  only  object  was  fpoil*  This  book  was  publifhed  in  1772.'' 
The  author,  a  Scots  officer,  returned  to  India  after  its  publication. 
His  return  to  Bengal  proves  that  the  accufation  here  advanced 
was  of  notorious  authenticity,  and  that  colonel  Dow  was  prepared 
to  fupport  it,  at  the  point  of  his  fword. 

On  the  5th  of  June,  1792,  Mr.  Francis  faid,  in  the  houfe  of 
commons,  that  the  Bengal  newfpapers  were  perpetually  full  of 
advertifements,  for  the  fale  of  lands,  feizedy^r  want  of  due  pay- 
ment of  revenue.  He  held  in  his  hand  two  of  thefe  advertifements-, 
the  one  announced  the  fale  oifeventeen  villages,  and  the  other,  a 
fale  of  forty-two.  John  Bonnar  may,  perhaps,  live  to  advertife 

■  Dow's  Hiftory  of  Hmdoftsm^  vtf.  ih.  p.  79. 


(  "°  ) 

Falkirk  or  Muflblburgh  for  the  arrears  of  a  malt-excife.  Mr.  Fran- 
cis quoted  fame  minutes  of  lord  Cornwallis  to  the  fame  elTecl. 
One  of  thefe,  dated  the  1 8th  of  September,  1789,  was  in  thefe 
trkable  words.  "  I  can  fafely  affirm,  that  one-third  of  the 
«•  company^  territory  :  flan,  is  now  a  jungle,  inhabi- 

f<  TED  BY  WILD  BEASTS," 

In  1785,  the  Britifh  Eaft-India  company  governed  two  hun- 
dred and  eighty-one  thousand,  four  hundred  and  twelve  fquari 
miles  of  territory  ;  a  fpace  equal  to  twiee  the  area  of  the  whore 
republic  of  France,  which  is  known  to  comprehend  iwt 
millions  of  people.  The  wricers  on  this  iubject  frequently  re- 
mark, that  large  provinces  of  Hhidoftan,  were  formerly  culti- 
vated like  a  garden.  The  Hindoos  themielves,  are,  perhaps,  the 
moil  abilemious  of  mankind.  Their  fuhhilencc  requires  but  a 
trifling  quantity  of  food,  compaied  with  that  of  any  race  of  peo* 
pi  j  in  Europe.  From  the  pacific  temper  of  the  natives,  they  Lad, 
■for  the  moil  part,  but  few  wars.  Agriculture  and  manufactures 
had  arrived  at  a  high  degree  of  perfection.  From  thefe  impor* 
tant  and  combined  cauils,  the  papulation  of  India  mull  have 
been  prodigious.  But,  if  we  fuppoie  that  it  was  only  in  propor- 
tion to  that  of  France,  and  the  fuppoiition  is  perfectly  reasonable, 
the  dominions  of  the  Fail-India  company  mull,  before  the  com- 
mencement of  Britifh  conqueiis,  have  contained^// 
of  inhabitants  ;  and  from  various  circumllances  that  have  I 
ilated,  this  computation  is  certainly  not  overcharged.  For  the  fake 
of  didinclnefs,  we  ihall  proceed  by  the  help  of  cyphers. 

Population  previous  to  the  year  :  -  -  -  54,000,000 

Lord  Cornwallis,  in  1 7,89,  ftatcs,  that  tone-third  part  of  this 
country,  was,  at  that  time,  a  jungle  inhabited  by  wild 
beads.  For  this  jungle,  deduct  oiie-tbird  of  the  ancient 
population  -  iG;oco,coo 

Suppoie  that  the  remaining  two-third  parts  of  thefe  provi  ■- 
ccii;;nc  lo  half   of  the  thirty-fix  millions  of 

inhabitants,  whom  the  y  contained,  before  theiriubjeclion 
to  the  i3i  hifh  EaU-India  company,  'i  his  one-half  gives     18,000,000 

DeduoL  this  from  the  original  population  -  -  36,000,00* 

Prcka*  number  of  inhabitants  -  l8,ceo,cco 


Thus,  in  thirty-live  years,  that  is,  from  1758,  to  1792,  inclu- 
sive, there  has  been  an  uniform  walle  of  .people,  under  thefe 
mercantile  fovereigns,  at  the  rate  of  more  .than  one  million  per 
annum  ;  in  whole,  thirty-six  millions.  The  premifes,  on 
which  this  calculation  has  been  founded,  are  explicitly  placed 
before  the  reader.  As  to  their  jullice,  he  is  competent  to  decide 
ibr  himfelf. 

THE     END. 

v  £0  "? 


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